Sri Lankan CC - Auckland CA T20 A1 champs

Auckland Cricket Association 2009/10 A1 T20 competition was won by the Sri Lankan Cricket Club T20 team by beating Grafton United Cricket Club in the finals played at Eastdale Cricket Grounds, Avondale, Auckland recently.

The SLCC T20 team was captained by former Alethea International College cricketer Nilanka Lakshan Fernando with the former St Anthony's Wattala cricketer Avantha Fernando as the vice captain.

The team played fourteen matches during the 2009/10 season winning ten matches and losing four and in the grand final, beating one of New Zealand's oldest cricket clubs, Grafton United by three wickets. The leading run getters for the season were, Avantha Fernando with 289 runs, former Thurstan College Cricketer Amitha Weerakoon with 287 runs, Nilanka Lakshan Fernando with 273 runs and Auckland Mount Albert Grammar College 1st x 1 Captain Rhys Denby with 200 runs. The bowlers to performer well during the season were, Fiji born Indian, Sameer Khan with 13 wickets, Sisil Rajapakse with 10 wickets and nine wickets each for Nipuna Malinda, Ashan Soysa and Avantha Fernando.

The Champion team:

Nilanka Lakshan Fernando (Captain), Avantha Fernando (VC), Amitha Weerakoon, Rhys Denby, Arun Christopher, Elmo Senanayake, Jayath Batuwangala, Alex Liyanage, Suviraj Makawita, Sisil Rajapakse, Ashan Soysa, Vikash Vij, Sameer Khan, Sumal de Silva, Nipuna Malinda and Ash Singh.

The Sri Lankan Cricket Club had seven teams taking part in the Auckland Cricket Association Competition this season and had a fairly satisfactory season for the club during this 2009/10 season.

The President's team (players of 40 years and over) won the ACA Presidents minor championship under the leadership of Sunitha Gunathilake and in the ACA Country of Origin T20 final, the SLCC team captained by Satchi Jayathilake lost in the last ball of the game to the Pakistani origin team.