Ace Capital CC fill final semi-final slot with win over Tamil Union 

Thanuka Dabare’s exhilarating half-century helped Ace Capital CC beat Tamil Union

SLC Major Clubs T20 tournament

Ace Capital CC pulled off a three-wicket win on the DLS method over Tamil Union to top Group C and qualify for a place in the semi-finals of the SLC Major Clubs T20 tournament at the NCC grounds on the final day of group matches played yesterday.

Ace Capital CC thus joined NCC (from Group A), Colts (from Group B), and Moors SC (from Group D) in the semi-finals of the tournament.

The semi-final line-up for 9 June at the P. Sara Oval is NCC v Moors SC at 10 am, and Colts v Ace Capitals CC at 2 p.m.

The winners of these matches will play in the final at the SSC on 11 June at 10 a.m.

In yesterday’s matches, Tamil Union put into bat first and made a challenging score of 163-8. Ace Capital CC had reached 114-5 in 13 overs in reply when rain interrupted play. When play resumed, Ace Capital CC’s target was revised to 126 off 15 overs, which they reached with two balls to spare. Match-winner for Ace Capital CC was Thanuka Dabare who scored an electrifying 59 off 26 balls (6 fours, 5 sixes) and put on an opening stand of 94 off 50 balls with Sithara Gimhana (30) to provide the team with the impetus.

The second match played at the same venue saw Sebastianites beat Colts by 27 runs to tie on six points with Colts and Bloomfield in Group B. However, Colts finished on top of the group on a superior net run rate (1.743) compared to Bloomfield’s (0.863) and Sebastianites’ (0.306) to qualify for the semi-finals. Sebastianites scored 142 with Colts skipper Akila Dananjaya taking four wickets for 30. Colts in reply could manage only 115-7 despite an unbeaten 49 from Sheran Fonseka.

In the other two matches that had no bearing on the semi-finals played at the P Sara Oval, Nugegoda SWC (137/5) triumphed over Ragama CC (133) by five wickets, and SSC (150-8) beat Badureliya CC (175-5) by two wickets on the DLS method. Ranesh Silva scored an unbeaten 93 off 51 balls (10 fours, 4 sixes) for Badureliya CC and Binura Fernando 54 off 34 balls (4 fours, 4 sixes) for Ragama CC. – (ST)