Tamil Union qualify with win over CCC in Super Over
Kusal Mendis, Binura Fernando make their mark from injuries
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
SSC in their return to Major Club cricket reached their second successive final when they beat arch rivals NCC by 46 runs under lights at the R Premadasa Cricket Stadium while in the other semi-final, also a day-night affair played at the SSC grounds, Tamil Union beat defending champions CCC in the Super Over after the two teams had tied on a similar score at 193-6 yesterday.
SSC and Tamil Union will meet in the final at the R Premadasa Cricket Stadium under lights on 16 September.
The semi-finals were notable for the return of two Sri Lankan players who were forced to miss the three-match T20I series in England due to injuries. White ball Captain Kusal Mendis making his first appearance since being laid low with a hamstring injury hit a sparkling half-century off 35 balls (3 fours, 2 sixes) for SSC, while left-arm fast-bowler Binura Fernando took 3/30 to peg down CCC to a total of 193-6 and force a Super Over where he dismissed the two CCC batsmen off successive balls leaving Tamil Union to score one run for victory which they did.
Apart from Kusal Mendis’ half-century, Nuwanidu Fernando also scored a fifty – 30 balls (4 fours, 3 sixes) supported by 35 and 36 from openers Vishad Randika and Avishka Fernando that enabled SSC reach 196-4. NCC failed to get the momentum going in their innings and with the exception of a 53-runs stand for the second wicket between Niroshan Dickwella (38 off 21 balls) and Kavin Bandara (41 off 34) never looked like challenging SSC’s total. NCC were dismissed for 150 with an over to spare with spinners Malsha Fernando (3/22) and Kavindu Nadeeshan (3/25) capturing a major share of the wickets.
An all-round batting performance saw Tamil Union hit up 193-6 after being invited to bat first. Thanuka Dabare set the pace for them top scoring with 42 off 17 balls (6 fours, 2 sixes) followed by contributions of 36, 33 and 32 from Sharujan Shanmuganathan, Thevindu Senarathne and Sachitha Jayathilake respectively.
Nishan Madushka played a lone hand in CCC’s reply of 193-6. A failure in Test cricket he made a statement in white ball cricket with back to back centuries. He followed his knock of 114* against Ace Capital CC in the quarter-final on Wednesday with 109* off 65 balls (7 fours, 6 sixes). The second highest score was Dulnith Sigera’s 31.
