John Keells Group (A) were crowned champions of the MCA Super Premier T20 Tournament, as they defeated MODE Engineering by 4 runs in the final held today (25th June), at MCA Grounds in Colombo.
After been put into bat first, John Keells got off to a shaky start, losing 4 top-order batters for just 22 runs inside the powerplay. However, number three batter Kavin Bandara and number six batter Sachitha Jayathilake built a match-defining partnership for the 5th wicket, adding 94 runs.
Jayathilake stroked a blistering knock of 62 runs off 39 balls with 7 sixes, while Bandara added 42 runs off 33 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes. Arul Pragash, Sandakan Pathirana and T. Vithushan starred with the ball for MODE Engineering, picking up 2 wickets each.
In reply, MODE Engineering could not start well with the bat either, as they lost the first 4 wickets for just 31 runs. Wicket-keeper batter Sasindu Nanayakkara and Skipper Dushan Hemantha rebuilt the innings, adding 69 runs for the 5th wicket, but it was not enough to carry their side over the line as MODE Engineering fell short of the target by 4 runs.
Skipper Hemantha’s blazing knock of 54 runs off 20 balls with 7 sixes was the highlight of MODE Engineering’s innings. Ishan Jayaratne (3/14), Malinga Amarasinghe (2/25) and Sachitha Jayathilake (2/25) impressed with the ball for John Keells sharing 9 scalps between them.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheran Fonseka | c Dushan Hemantha b Arul Pragash | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | c Shehan Fernando b Sandakan Pathirana | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16.67 |
| Kavin Bandara | c & b Arul Pragash | 43 | 33 | 2 | 2 | 130.30 |
| Ahan Wickramasinghe | c Sasindu Nanayakkara b Sandakan Pathirana | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 157.14 |
| Navod Paranavithana | b Mohamed Imthiyas Slasa | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 140.00 |
| Sachitha Jayathilake | c Mohamed Imthiyas Slasa b Theeshan Vithushan | 62 | 39 | 0 | 7 | 158.97 |
| Ishan Jayaratne | c Akeel Inham b Dushan Hemantha | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 128.57 |
| Akila Dananjaya | c Mohamed Imthiyas Slasa b Theeshan Vithushan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Malinga Amarasinghe | run out () | 12 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 133.33 |
| Duvindu Tillakaratne | run out () | 8 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 80.00 |
| Malindu Shehan | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 3 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 157/10 (19.5 Overs, RR: 7.92) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arul Pragash | 4 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 6.50 | |
| Sandakan Pathirana | 3.5 | 0 | 33 | 2 | 9.43 | |
| Mohamed Imthiyas Slasa | 4 | 0 | 38 | 1 | 9.50 | |
| Theeshan Vithushan | 4 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 6.50 | |
| Dushan Hemantha | 4 | 0 | 30 | 1 | 7.50 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thevindu Dickwella | c Duvindu Tillakaratne b Malinga Amarasinghe | 14 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 93.33 |
| Shehan Fernando | c & b Ishan Jayaratne | 7 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 77.78 |
| Akeel Inham | b Ishan Jayaratne | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Sasindu Nanayakkara | lbw b Akila Dananjaya | 28 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 87.50 |
| Sajith De Silva | b Sachitha Jayathilake | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Dushan Hemantha | c Akila Dananjaya b Malindu Shehan | 54 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 270.00 |
| Sandakan Pathirana | b Malinga Amarasinghe | 11 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 91.67 |
| Isitha Wijesundera | c Navod Paranavithana b Ishan Jayaratne | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 125.00 |
| Arul Pragash | c Ahan Wickramasinghe b Sachitha Jayathilake | 12 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Mohamed Imthiyas Slasa | not out | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 60.00 |
| Extras | 11 (b 0 , lb 3 , nb 1, w 7, pen 0) |
| Total | 152/9 (20 Overs, RR: 7.6) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ishan Jayaratne | 4 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 3.50 | |
| Malindu Shehan | 4 | 0 | 37 | 1 | 9.25 | |
| Malinga Amarasinghe | 4 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 5.00 | |
| Akila Dananjaya | 4 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 4.50 | |
| Sachitha Jayathilake | 3 | 0 | 29 | 2 | 9.67 | |
| Duvindu Tillakaratne | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 16.00 | |
 were crowned champions of the MCA Super Premier T20 Tournament, as they defeated MODE Engineering by 4 runs in the final held today (25th June), at MCA Grounds in Colombo. ){kind=link}