Commercial Credit & Finance trounce Central Finance by 138 runs

Poor fielding followed by a pathetic  display  of  batting from Central Finance gave Commercial Credit & Finance Plc ‘B’ the satisfaction of sweet revenge and a 138-run win, at the 13th Ceylon Cold Stores Plc-sponsored Elephant House Lemonade Trophy MCA ‘D’ Division 40-Over League Tournament 2016 final, which concluded at the MCA grounds last  Saturday.

Earlier in the tournament Commercial Credit & Finance ‘B’ lost to Central Finance by five wickets.

Commercial Credit ‘B’, who won the toss and batted, got off to a shaky start, losing their in-form batsmen Suchira Fernando (17), Kavinda Silva (05) and Malith Fernando  (02) at  16, 31 and  34.

Anura Dias, in at No. 3, steadied the ship with a valuable 68-run stand in 97 balls for the fourth wicket with Sanitha de Mel (29).

While Dias held his end, wickets kept on tumbling at the other end as Central Finance’s spin twins, Vikum Costa and Ishan Salinda, were in full control.

With the scoreboard reading 130 for 8, Dias found his ally in No. 10 batsman Duminda Kanangara (12 in 24 balls). The pair put on 57 runs in 47 balls for the ninth wicket.

Commercial Credit closed their innings at 211 in 39.2 overs, with Dias being the last man out after scoring a brilliant 108 in 85 balls, inclusive of four sixes and 12 fours. 

Central Finance’s fielding left much to be desired. The scoreboard would have read differently if their bowlers got adequate support from their fielders. Even Centurion Anura Dias was let off at a vital stage.

Central Finance was set the target of 212 runs in 40 overs (RPO 5.3). 

Commercial Credit opening bowler Suranga Salinda got rid of opening batsman Nimesh Fernando with the third ball of the day. Sanitha de Mel followed up by bagging two wickets in his opening over. Salinda rubbed salt into the wound, capturing two more wickets in his third over as Central Finance went down the precipice at 18 for 5.

Their last pair, Maduranga Attanayake (15 not out) and Charith Nirantha (25), took the score over the 50 mark, but they were soon all out for a paltry 73 runs in 16 overs, giving an early finish to the final at 2.45 p.m. 

Commercial Credit B’s demolishing squad:  Suranga Salinda 6/23/4, Sanitha de Mel 5/15/3 and Duminda Kanangara 4/24/2.

MCA-appointed Match Referee Chandana Mahesh Wickramasinghe had an easy task of naming Anura Dias from Commercial Credit as the Man of the Match.

The other three special awards went to Akila Dhananjaya from Kanrich Finance ‘B’ who was named the Best Bowler (seven matches, 115 runs, 20 wickets); Malintha Gajanayake from Hilton Colombo Residences, the Best Batsman (seven innings 431 runs, one century and three half centuries) and Adeesha Nanayakkara from Vallibel Finance, the Man of the Series (six matches, 141 runs 11 wickets and 394 runs including 175 vs.  Aitken Spence, 99 vs. Ceylinco and 72 vs. DPMC) 

Awards were presented by Vice President,  John Keells Holdings/Head of EH Beverages  CCS  Daminda Gamlath,  EH Beverages/CCS  Senior Brand Manager Nadina Fernando, President Niran Mahawatte, General Secretary Nalin Wickramasinghe and Tournament  Committee member Punyakantha Abeygunasekera, all from the MCA.

Chief scores

Commercial Credit & Finance Plc ‘B’ - 211 all out in 39.2 overs (Suchira Fernando 17,  Anura Dias 108,  Sanitha de Mel 29,  Gihan Mihiranga 15,  Charith Nirantha 2/18,  Vikum Costa 4/53,  Ishan Salinda 2/28)

Central Finance – 73 all out in 16 overs (Maduranga  Attanayake  15 not out,  Charith  Nirantha 25,  Suranga Salinda 4/23,  Sanitha de Mel  3/15,  Duminda Kanangara 2/24)