Krishan and Himesh shine as SSC crowned T20 Champions

SLC Major Club T20 Tournament 2020/21

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SSC crowned T20 Champions

Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) recorded a 29-run win over Army Cricket Club in the final of the SLC Major Club T20 Tournament 2020/21 played at SSC Grounds in Colombo.

After winning the toss, SSC skipper Charith Asalanka opted to bat first but they got off to a shaky start, losing the in-form batsman Avishka Fernando for just 1 run in the very first over of the day.

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However things recovered pretty well as the number three batsman Krishan Sanjula built two key partnerships of 46 runs & 48 runs with the opener Nipun Dananjaya and Nuwanindu Fernando for the 2nd and 3rd wickets respectively. 

There was no significant partnership from the SSC batsmen thereafter, but Sanjula managed to keep things steady and guided SSC to a comeptive total of 146 runs at the end of 20 overs. Sanjula was the chief contributor with the bat as he made an unbeaten 71 runs off 62 balls with 5 fours.

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Chasing 147 runs to win, Army opening batsmen Ashan Randika and Dushan Vimukthi got them off to a blistering start by scoring 20 runs in the first 2 overs, but the Skipper Vimukthi threw his wicket away for just 4 runs in the 3rd over.

The soliders could not capitalize on the brisk start they got to their run chase as they lost wickets at regular intervals, especially the big scalps of the experienced Seekkuge Prasanna and Asela Gunaratne, without them  significant impact with the bat. 

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The opener Randika (44) and Himasha Liyanage (32) tried their best with the bat contributing with useful knocks but they weren’t enough as SSC managed to restrict the soldiers to 117 runs in 19.2 overs. 

The speedster Himesh Ramanayake (3/23), Kalana Perera (2/15) and Tharindu Rathnayake (2/21) starred with the ball for SSC sharing 7 wickets among them. 

Brief Scores

Sinhalese Sports Club 146/5 (20) Krishan Sanjula 71*, Nuwanindu Fernando 27, Nipun Dananjaya 27, Heshan Hettiarachchi 2/27 

Army Cricket Club 117 (19.2) Ashan Randika 44, Himasha Liyanage 32, Himesh Ramanayake 3/23, Kalana Perera 2/15, Tharindu Rathnayake 2/21

Result – SSC won by 29 runs