McLarens Group win MCA ‘D’ Division 40-Over League title

Monday, 30 March 2015 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

McLarens Group emerged 12th Elephant House Lemonade Trophy, MCA D division 40-Over League Tournament champions when they outplayed HSBC ‘A’ in the final played at the Mercantile Cricket Association Grounds in Colombo last Saturday. This is the first occasion which McLarens cricketers entered the final of the prestigious League Tournament, having unfortunately ruled out in the semi-finals in four previous occasions. After McLarens skipper Hasantha Solomon won the toss and elected to bat, they posted a comfortable total on the board against the Bankers with the help of Tharindu Rukshan who played a steady innings, scoring 74. Piyal Dissanayake also played a big role in swelling the McLarens’ total to 187. Julian de silva took 3 for 41 while N de Silva bagged 2 for 32 for HSBC ‘A’.

The reply from HSBC ‘A’ was not up to the standards when Sandaruwan Hettiarachchi led the McLarens bowling attack with impressive figures of 4 for 28 to wreck the HSBC ‘A’ innings. Vice-Captain Tharindu Rukshan (2 for 4) and Randika Fernando (2 for 38) also bowled well for the McLarens team and the HSBC ‘A’ team were all out for 156, 32 runs short of the target. Tharindu Rukshan added more to the McLarens victory when he was named the Man of the Match for his heroics in both bowling and batting during the final. McLarens reached the finals after they scored a comprehensive 05 wickets win over Expolanka Group. Randika Fernando (4 for 4 in 3.4 overs) and A. Solomon (3/40) were the key players behind the success story of McLarens Group team which blocked Expolanka’s path to the final. Expolanka were restricted to a total of 124 in the semi-final, which McLarens reached the target in just 25.4 overs scoring 127 for 5. Victorious skipper Hasantha Solomon said that the team put lots of effort to win their first MCA League title in their first appearance in the final itself. “On four occasions we were unfortunate to exit the tournament after reaching the semi-finals. In all four of those occasions, the matches were washed away by rain. We take this opportunity to thank our sports-loving Chairman/Managing Director Rohan de Silva, who always stands beside us in every endeavour,” he added. McLarens: 187 all out in 39 overs (Tharindu Rukshan 74, Piyal Dissanayake 23, Julian de Silva 3 for 41, N de Silva 2 for 32) HSBC’ A’: 156 all out in 22.4 overs (Shehan Wijethunga 31, Sachith Nissanka 31, N de Silva 26, Sandaruwan Hettiarachi 4 for 28, Tharindu Rukshan 2 for 4, Randika Fernando 2 for 38)