Skipper Ramesh guides Hayleys Group ‘A’ to final
A swashbuckling 137-ball unbeaten knock of 153, inclusive of eight boundaries and 11 towering sixes by skipper Ramesh Mendis, paved the way for Hayleys Group ‘A’ to coast to an easy 63-run win over unbeaten CDB ‘A’ in the second semi-final of the 32nd MCA Super Premier League tournament played at the MCA ground yesterday. It was sweet revenge for Hayleys Group ‘A’ as they came back with vengeance to avenge their 5-wicket defeat in the first round.
Ramesh came to the rescue with a captain’s knock when Hayleys ‘A’, invited to bat first, was struggling on 73-5 at halfway stage. Ramesh, associated in four valuable partnerships which began with 75 runs for the sixth wicket with Minod Bhanuka, followed by a brief stand of 35-run for the seventh wicket with Lahiru Samarakoon.
Ramesh followed to add another valuable 63-run stand for the eighth wicket with Kavishka Anjula and an unbroken 39-run stand for the ninth wicket with Prabath Jayasuriya helped Hayleys ‘A’ to end with a formidable score of 282-8.
CDB ‘A’ were given a solid start of 58 runs in 51 balls by openers Lahiru Udara and Avishka Fernando and then a 72-run stand for the fourth wicket by Pavan Ratnayake and Nipun Dhananjaya, saw them cruising on 153-4 at the halfway stage.
They faced a setback, losing three quick wickets for 12 runs and slid to 165 for 7. With their top batsmen back in the pavilion, it was a matter of time and with no fruitful partnerships coming, they folded up for 219 runs. Hayleys ‘A’ will now meet Maliban Biscuits ‘A’ in the final to be played next week.
| Brief Scores: | |
| Hayleys ‘A’ 282 for 8 (50) (Ramesh Mendis 153n.o., Minod Bhanuka 50, Nishan Madushka 25, Lahiru Samarakoon 19; Tharindu Ratnayake 3/36, Pramod Madushan 2/59) CDB ‘A’ 219 all out (41.2) (Avishka Fernando 48, Pavan Ratnayake 40, Lahiru Udara 31, Nipun Dhananjaya 30, Movin Subasinghe 24, Tharindu Ratnayake 18; Kavishka Anjula 4/28, Inuka Karannagoda 2/43, Prabath Jayasuirya 2/48) |