Hirdaramani, Palliyaguruge, Brandix ‘B’, Stafford Motors in Semis
Action at the MCA F division quarter-finals. Pix by Ranjith Perera
Hirdaramani Group, Palliyaguruge Group from the top half and from the bottom half, advanced to the semifinals of the 2nd Commercial Credit & Finance PLC sponsored, MCA ‘F’ Division 25-Over League Tournament 2017.
The four quarter-final matches were worked off last weekend at the MCA Grounds were:
(1) Hirdaramani vs Janashakthi
Hirdaramani, after restricting Janashakthi to 121 for 9 in 28 overs, were made to work hard for their win (127 for 7 in 24.3 overs), made with 3 balls to spare, thanks to a fighting 42 not out by D. Viraj.
(2) Palliyaguruge Group vs Technomedics
A useful 2nd-wicket partnership of 82 runs in 77 balls, between Harsha de Silva (58 in 35 balls with 3 sixes and 6 fours) and D. Harischandra (44) spearheaded Palliyaguruge Group to a comfortable 7-wickets win with 5 overs to spare.
(3) Brandix Essentials (Brandix) ‘B’ vs HSBC ‘C’
Brandix ‘B’ right-arm medium pacie, Shiran Abeyratne with an incredible spell of 5-1-13-5, skittled HSBC for a paltry 73 runs in 22.2 overs. Brandix ‘B’ shed a little sweat to reach 74 for 2 in 9.4 overs.
(4) Stafford Motors (Staffords) vs Textured Jersey (TJ) ‘B’
Staffords batting first made 154/6 in 25 overs, helped by a valuable 4th wicket stand of 70 runs in 40 balls between S. Sampath (37 not out) and Rakitha Raj (31). Then an outstanding spell of bowling (5-0-9-5) by Amila Mendis, gave Staffords a comfortable 54-runs win, as TJ ‘B’ folded for 100 runs in 21.5 overs.
Chief Scores
* Hirdaramani Group beat Janashakthi Insurance by 3 wickets
 Janashakthi 121/9 (25) (V. Nadeera 42, C. De Silva 25; S. Mohamed 3/26, U. Sachin 2/10)
 Hirdaramani 127/7 (24.3) (D. Viraj 42 n.o., U. Vilegoda 21, M. Madushanka 21; C. Fernando 2/16, R. Brinthaban 4/22)
* Palliyaguruge Group beat Technomedics         International by 7 wickets
  Technomedics 135 (25) (R. Chalanga 35, T. Sripathi 35, S. Indika 30; N. Palliyaguruge 3/17, S. Wijemanne 2/22, S. Rodrigo 2/18)
  Palliyaguruge 138/3 (20) (Harsha de Silva 58, D. Harishchandra 44, S. Amarasinghe 20 n.o.)
* Brandix Essentials ‘B’ beat HSBC ‘C’ by 8 wickets
 HSBC ‘C’ 73 (22.2) (Shiran Abeyratne 5/13)
 Brandix ‘B’ 74/2 (9.4) (Shiran Abeyratne 26 n.o., M. Ratnayake 25 n.o.)
*Stafford Motors beat Textured Jersey (TJ) ‘B’ by 54 runs
 Staffords 154/6 (25) (S. Sampath 37 n.o., K. Radeesh 32, Rakitha Raj 31, D. Sulochana 25; U. Jayakody 2/22, D. Tharaka 2/40)
   TJ ‘B’ 100 (21.5) (R. Perera 35; Amila Mendis 5/9, Rakitha Raj 3/2)
*Semifinals
Hirdaramani Group vs Palliyaguruge Group at MCA Grounds
Brandix Essentials ‘B’ vs Stafford Motors at Army Grounds, Mattegoda.
Both matches are in the morning, with the afternoon free in case of rain in the morning.