Nawaloka and Maliban face-off in decisive MCA ‘D’ division clash
View(s):The Mercantile ‘D’ division 40-over cricket final for the ‘CBL-Munchee’ trophy will take place today at the MCA grounds will be of special interest as Nawaloka Hospitals and Maliban Biscuits meet each other for the third time this season to seek supremacy in Mercantile cricket.
When they clashed for the first time in the MCA ‘E’ division final on May 25, 2019, Nawaloka narrowly beat Maliban by eight runs at the MCA.
Maliban trounced Nawaloka by nine wickets on December 15, 2019 when they met for the second time in the league rounds at Mattegoda.
The grudge continues in 2020 as Nawaloka Hospitals under their same captain, 36-year-old Samith Ruberu and Maliban under their new captain 32-year-old, Anjula Perera, battle for honours.
Maliban is the only unbeaten team in the tournament up to date. In the league stage, they also won against Mode Engineering by three wickets, Colombo Dockyard by six wickets, Hirdaramani by 190 runs and Bodyline by eight wickets. In the knockout stage they defeated Hemas Group by eight wickets in the quarter-finals and DPMC by 92 runs in the semi finals.
Maliban’s top performers are skipper Anjula Perera, who scored a century in the semi finals against DPMC, Risith Upamala Dias (160), Nethminda Perera (164), Gayashan Jayakody (17 wickets) and Lahiru Dushantha (7.1- 22-06) who was the match winning bowler in the semi final vs DPMC.
Nawaloka Hospital apart from their only blemish of losing to Maliban, won against Hirdaramani by 134 runs, MAS Bodyline by 14 runs and Mode Engineering by two runs while their match against Colombo Dockyard was washed off in the league round. In the knock-out stage, they beat NDB by 77 runs in the quarter finals and went on to beat Mode Engineering for the second time by four wickets in the semi finals.
Nawaloka Hospitals’ top performers are Tharindu Suraj (182 runs), Samila Nadeesh (202 runs) and Thiwanka Kakulawala (16 wickets).
| Teams | |
| Nawaloka Hospitals (from ): Sumith Ruberu (Captain), Gayan Prasanga, Tharindu Suraj, Samila Nadeesh, Buddhika Prasad, Deshan Fernando, Thiwanka Kekulawala, Sanka Purna, Nishan Hasaral, Shachinthana Jayawardena, Nisal Ranatunga and K. Sivadharshan Maliban Biscuits (from): Anjula Perera (Captain), Gihan Anuruddha, Nadun Darshana, Nethminda Perera, Chamara Rathnayaka, Dilan Chathuranga, Mohammed Silmi, Chathuranga Dewapriya, Venura Gayashan, Lahiru Dushantha, Dilum Fernando, Amila Prasad, Kavindu Bandara, Nalinda Silva and Tharinda Fernando |