Six more games of the Major Clubs T20 Tournament 2023 took place today with Moors SC and NCC registering wins to stay unbeaten while Sri Lanka Army, Panadura SC, BRC and Negombo CC also notched up important wins.
A battle of the forces took place today when Sri Lanka Army faced Sri Lanka Air Force at the NCC grounds with Army dismantling Air Force by 8 wickets with 10 overs to spare. Lilan Rangana who’s playing in his first club cricket season was the chief destroyer of the Air Force taking 4 for 16.
Panadura SC overcame Police SC in a close tussle at the CCC as only 12 runs separated the two teams. Panadura batted first and made 155 with highly experienced Rajeewa Weerasinghe top scoring with an unbeaten 44 from 26 balls. Nalin Priyadarshana was the pick of the bowlers for Police taking 3 for 16. Chasing 156 to win, the Police could only score 143 after losing 9 wickets in their 20 overs. Panadura’s hero with the bat, Weerasinghe shined with the ball in hand as well by taking 3 wickets for 16 runs.
Read : Udana, Daniel star in thrilling wins for Tamil Union & Colts
Former Sri Lankan all-format opener, Upul Tharanga hammered a phenomenal century against Chilaw Marians to guide NCC towards a 56-run win. NCC who batted first made 187 with Tharanga doing the bulk of the scoring. Chasing 187 at Army grounds in Panagoda never looked easy for Chilaw Marians as only Kasun Vidura managed to put up a fight with a resilient unbeaten knock of 80 off 59 deliveries. Off-spinner Ashian Daniel tormented the Marians batters taking 3 for 10 in his spell. Sri Lanka test cap Lasith Embuldeniya also took a 3fer but conceded 38 runs.
BRC faced Galle CC at the CCC grounds and recorded a convincing win by 45 runs. Bhagya Dissanayake was the hero with the bat for BRC scoring a valiant half-century while former Sri Lankan international cricketer Dilruwan Perera bamboozled Galle CC taking a 5-wicket haul for just 14 runs.
Negombo CC took on Kandy Customs CC in a low-scoring encounter at the NCC grounds and walked out with a 13-run victory. Opening batter Irosh Fernando laid the foundation for Negombo CC scoring 40 off 29 to make 139 in their allotted 20 overs. Chasing 140 to win, Kandy Customs fell short by 13 runs as Mithun Jayawickrama’s brilliant unbeaten knock of 54 went in vain. Leg spinner Sachin Colombage was the pick of the bowlers for Negombo CC claiming 3 wickets for 13 runs.
Moors SC and CCC locked horns in a high-octane clash at the Army Grounds in Panagoda and it went right down the wire as both the teams were unbeaten in their group coming into this encounter. Batting first, Moors SC made 160 in their 20 overs thanks to a classy half-century from former Sri Lanka under 19 cap Mohommed Shamaaz. Four CCC bowlers who represented Sri Lanka shared 2 wickets each with highly experienced Ashan Priyanjan leading the way taking 2 for 13 while the others were Vishwa Fernando, Nuwan Thushara and Chathuranga de Silva. Requiring 161 to win, Minod Bhanuka came out all guns blazing for CCC with a well-made 66 from 39 balls but unfortunately got out in the last over which cost them the game. CCC needed 12 from the final over but Moors bowler Thilan Prashan took the prize wicket of Bhanuka and prevented de Silva from getting CCC over the line as they fell 4 runs short. Lahiru Samarakoon who kept chipping away with important wickets for Moors ended up with 4 wickets for 31 runs.
Brief Scores
Air Force SC Vs Army SC
Air Force SC :- 66 (17.2)
Kemira Wijenayake 16(16)
Lilan Rangana 4/16, Gayan Chandrabose 2/5Army SC :- 69/2 (10)
Ashan Randika 23(22)*, Asela Gunaratne 20(25)
Kemira Wijenayake 1/9Army SC won by 8 wickets
Panadura SC Vs Police SC
Panadura SC :- 155/6 (20)
Rajeewa Weerasinghe 44(26), Rishika Dawatage 34(29)
Nalin Priyadarshana 3/16, Malinda Pushpakumara 1/31Police SC :- 143/9 (20)
Randunu Ganganath 35(33), Nadeera Balasooriya 33(25)
Rajeewa Weerasinghe 3/20, Koshan Jayawickrama 3/31Panadura SC won by 12 runs
NCC Vs Chilaw Marians CC
NCC :- 187/6 (20)
Upul Tharanga 101(67), Ahan Wickramasinghe 38(22)
Nipun Premarathna 2/28, Lasith Lakshan 1/29Chilaw Marians CC :- 131/9 (20)
Kasun Vidura 80(59), Ramesh Nimantha 24(22)
Ashian Daniel 3/10, Lasith Embuldeniya 3/38NCC won by 56 runs
BRC Vs Galle CC
BRC :- 143/8 (20)
Bhagya Dissanayake 50(53), Leo Francisco 27(21)
Tharindu Guruge 3/22, Hansamana de Silva 3/28Galle CC :- 98 (16.5)
Shanuka Galagoda 36(26)
Dilruwan Perera 5/14, Umeshika Morais 2/9BRC won by 45 runs
Negombo CC Vs Kandy Customs CC
Negombo CC :- 139/7 (20)
Irosh Fernando 40(29), Himasha Liyanage 27(40)
Mithun Jayawickrama 2/27, Nisala Akash ⅙Kandy Customs CC :- 126/7 (20)
Mithun Jayawickrama 54(38)*, Sahan Kosala 21(26)
Sachindu Colombage 3/13, Chanura Fernando 1/14Negombo CC won by 13 runs
Moors SC Vs CCC
Moors SC :- 160/9 (20)
Mohammed Shamaaz 50(33), Pasindu Sooriyabandara 33(28)
Ashan Priyanjan 2/13, Chathuranga de Silva 2/22CCC :- 156/7 (20)
Minod Bhanuka 66(39), Pavan Rathnayaka 23(24)
Lahiru Samarakoon 4/31, Thilan Prashan 1/25Moors SC won by 4 runs