Unbeaten, Hatton National Bank ‘B’ (HNB), led by veteran, Damitha Hunukumbura will go out as the firm favourites to win, when they take on the unbeaten Dialog Axiata led by Damith Weerasinghe, in the sixth Fairfirst Insurance sponsored, ‘Fairfirst Insurance’ Trophy – Mercantile
Cricket Association (MCA) ‘F’ Division 25 Over League Tournament 2024 final, on April 20 at the MCA ground, commencing at 9.45 am.
HNB ‘B’ – Unbeaten path to the final: (A) League Stage/ played in Group ‘D’: beat Union Bank by 88 runs: beat Hilton Colombo Residencies by 83 runs; beat EB Creasey by 8 wickets; beat
Atire by 49 runs; beat Emerchemie NB by 9 wickets and beat Empire Tea by 9 wickets.
(B) Knock-out Stage: beat Camera LK by 9 wickets in the Pre-quarter-finals; beat Seylan Bank by 52 runs in the quarter-finals and beat Ansell Lanka by 21 runs in the semi-finals.
HNB ‘B’ – Top performers with the bat and the ball
Dinesh Panditharatne (9 innings, 438 runs, inclusive of one century and three half centuries); Kaveen S. Bandara (7 innings, 311 runs, inclusive of one century and two half centuries); Damitha Hunukumbura (6 innings, 245 runs, inclusive of two half centuries); Achintha S. Akalanka (7 matches, 150 runs, 17 wickets); Dellon Peiris (7 matches, 99 runs, 10 wickets);
Madushan H. Pathirage (7 matches, 135 runs, 10 wickets).
Dialog Axiata unbeaten path to the final. (A) League Stage / Played in Group ‘A’: Beat Softlogic Life by 6 wickets; beat Asiri Hospitals by 28 runs; beat Ansell Lanka by 4 wickets; beat IPD
Colombo by 9 wickets; beat Std. Chartered Bank by 8 wickets and beat CW Mackie by one wicket. (B) Knock-out stage: beat Commercial Bank ‘B’ by 6 wickets on the DLS
Method in the Pre-quarter final; beat MAS Active by 7 wickets in the quarter-final and beat Maliban Biscuits ‘B’ by two wickets in the semi-final.
Dialog Axiata top performers with the bat and ball
Dilan Harshana Bandara (9 innings, 462 runs, inclusive of one century and three half centuries); Rajitha Ranatunga (8 innings, 278 runs, inclusive of two half centuries); Damith Weerasinghe (7 innings, 152 runs, inclusive of one half century and nine matches, 246 balls, 244 runs, 13 wickets); Kaushal Perera (8 innings, 173 runs); Chandula Premanath (9 matches, 210 balls, 216 runs, 12 wickets and Moditha Weerasinghe (6 matches, 174 balls, 129 runs, 11 wickets).
The MCA appointed Match Referee at the final will be Sena Nandiweera.
Teams:
HNB ‘B’ (from): Damitha Hunukumbura (Capt.), Dinesh Panditharatne, Kaveen Bandara, Madawa Warnapura, Deshan Dias, Ashen Fernando, Madhushan Pathirage, Lahiru Wickramasinghe, Supun Akalanka, Saviru Bandara, Razik Ikram, Venuk Hettiarachchi, Ranmith Jayasena, Trimal Perera and Ravindu Amarasinghe.
Dialog Axiata (from): Damith Weerasinghe (Capt.), Kaushal Perera, Sithum Silva, Dilan Bandara, Rajitha Ranatunga, Chandula Premanath, Moditha Weerasinghe, Nadeeka Gamage, Aditha Iddamalgoda, Tharin Weerasinghe, Pasindu Bandaranayake, Sithira Abeywardena, Suranga Gunawardena, Rifa Ahamed and Senura Silva.
T B Rahaman