HNB, DFCC, Virtusa, JKH, MIL, HSBC, Asia Asset, ComBank in Q/F
Lakshitha Liyanage of DFCC took four wickets against MAS Silueta - Pic by Ranjith Perera
Unbeaten HNB Grameen, DFCC Bank (DFCC) and Virtusa, along with John Keells (JKH) ‘C’, Mercantile Investments Ltd (MIL), HSBC ‘A’, Asia Asset Finance (AAF) and Commercial Bank (ComBank) ‘B’ advanced to the quarterfinals in the 15th David Pieris Group of Companies sponsored, ‘DPGC’ Challenge Trophy – MCA ‘E’ Division 30-Over League Tournament 2017.
In the top half of the pre-quarterfinal matches worked of last weekend, HNB Grameen scored a comfortable 80-runs win over Brandix Essentials ‘A’. A cruel trick by the weather Gods enabled JKH ‘C’ to overcome Dialog Axiata ‘A’ on their superior net run rate. MIL ended Nawalokha Group’s (Nawalokha) unbeaten run when they beat them by 6 wickets.Weather again decided Vallibel Finance’s (Vallibel) fate, as Virtusa went through on their superior net run rate. In the bottom-half matches, DFCC scored a hard fought 3-wickets win with 4 deliveries to spare, over MAS Silueta ‘B’. HSBC ‘A’ beat the weather and MAS Active ‘B’ by 40 runs on the D&L method. AAF romped to an easy 75-runs win over LOLC. ComBank ‘B’ (ranked 15) created a huge upset when they eliminated bottom seed, Finlays Colombo (Finlays), by 8 runs on the D&L method.
The players who hogged the limelight were, HNB Grameen’s Muditha Fernando, who hit a belligerent 100 not out in 78 balls, inclusive of 13 fours, against Brandix Essentials ‘A’. Fernando was associated in a 118-runs stand in 95 balls for the 2nd wicket, with Sandaruwan Fernando (67). AAF all-rounder, Shashrika Pussegolla with an amazing spell of 6-1-18-6, skittled LOLC for a megre 97 runs in 24.2 overs. Then a valuable 95-runs stand for the 3rd wicket in 63 balls, between Ravindu Lakshan (63) and Dilan Anurada (35) for MIL against Nawaloka.  - LR
Pre-Quarterfinals
At MCA:
Pre-QF 5: DFCC Bank beat MAS Silueta ‘B’ by 3 wickets
MAS Silueta ‘B’ 171 (27.4) (T. Gunaratne 33, M. Safras 34; L. Dias 2/32, L. Liyanage 4/24, N. Herath 2/25)
DFCC 172/7 (29.2) (H. Cooray 56, P. Manoj 39; A. Kumarasiri 3/32, B. Themira 3/39)
Pre-QF 2: JKH ‘C’ Vs. Dialog Axiata ‘A’ ended in a ‘No Result’ (JKH ‘C’ qualied for the quarterfinals due to superior net run rate)
In the League stage: JKH ‘C’ (Group ‘F’ Runners-up NRR 1.108), Dialog ‘A’ (Group ‘D’ Runners-up NRR 0.701) Dialog ‘A’- 154/7 (25 overs) when bad light halted play.
At: Mattegoda
Pre-QF 3: MIL beat Nawaloka by 6 wickets
Nawaloka 199 (29.5) (G. Sameera 69, D. Ranush 70; D. Seneviratne 5/20, P. Buddhika 2/34, C. Prasad 2/29)
MIL 202/4 (23.5) ( R. Lakshan 63, D. Anuradha 35, C. Kumara 44 not out; S. Nanayakkara 2/32)
Pre-QF 4: Virtusa vs Vallibel -No ResultÂ
(Virtusa qualified for the quarterfinal by superior net run rate in the League stage)
Virtusa (Group ‘B’ winner- NRR 1.23), Vallibel (Group ‘D’ 3rd place- NRR 0.84)
Vallibel 177/6 in 25 overs when bad light halted play
At Thurstan:
Pre-QF 1: HNB Grameen beat Brandix Essentials ‘A’ by 80 runs (Match reduced to 28 overs )
 HNB Grameen 253/5 (28) (Sandaruwan Fernando 67, Muditha Fernando 100 n.o., K. Ranasinghe 32; A. Prabath 2/44)
Brandix ‘A’ 175/5 (28) (S. Nilaksha 59 n.o., M. Nimantha 35, U. Dushan 42)
Pre-QF 6: HSBC ‘A’ beat MAS Active ‘B’ by 40 runs on D/L method
HSBC ‘A’ 174/8 (30) (R. Seneviratne 69, A. Kaluarachchi 35 n.o.; D. Tennakoon 2/30, Shalindra Perera 2/33)
MAS Active ‘B’ 97/7 (21.3) Bad light halted play (Shalindra Perera 36; S. Subasinghe 2/11, A. Kariyawasam 4/26)
At Mattegoda:
Pre-QF 7: AAF beat LOLC by 75 runs
AAF 172/8 (30) (S. Pussegolla 32; W. Warnasuriya 2/27, S. Udukumbura 3/21)
LOLC 97 (24.3) (S. Pussegolla 6/18, M. Mahela 2/17)
Pre-QF 8: ComBank ‘B’ beat Finlays by 8 runs on D/L method
Finlays 185/9 (30) (Inesh Fernando 72; T. Nirmala 2/29, T. Gunatillake 2/26)
ComBank ‘B’ 126/4 (21) Bad light halted play (P. Peiris 32 n.o.)
Quarterfinals this weekend:Â Â
HNB Grameen vs JKH ‘C’ and MIL vs Virtusa
DFCC vs HSBC ‘A’ and AAF vs ComBank ‘B’ (afternoon)