ETI worthy winners of Mercantile B Division crown
Edirisinghe Trust Investment (ETI)bagged the Mercantile B Division
championship when they comprehensively beat the tough MAS Unichela by a
comfortable margin of 178 runs at the Colombo Colts Cricket Club
Grounds.
Aided by a blistering knock of 122 by D K Ranaweera and some good
bowling by right arm medium paceman Amal Athulathmudali who took 5 for
22, ETI was too strong for the MAS Unichela to handle.
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The champion ETI team |
After winning the toss, ETI batted first and made a very good total
of 300 on the Colts wicket, losing seven wickets. Amal Athulathmudali
also helped ETI innings with a 70 run knock while Harsha Cooray scored
44.
For Unichela, Madhura Lakmal and Sri Lanka cap Ishara Amarasinghe
took two wickets each but others failed to impress.
In reply, Unichela batsmen were down with disaster when Amal
Athulathmudali struck again. Athulathmudali turned out to be a promising
alrounder and produced some first class bowling to capture five wickets
for just 22 to play the leading role in demolishing the Unichela
innings.
Eranga Gangoda took 2 for 24.
Unichela batsmen found it hard to live upto expectations and were all
out for 122 runs in the 45th over and ETI emerged B Division champions,
making themselves available in the A Division from next term.
ETI qualified for the final of the tournament after beating the
defending champions by 84 runs. ETI team which is still young at the
mercantile cricket arena, started their journey in 2007, competing in G
Division and received a triple promotion next year. In 2009, they lost
in the semis.
Incidentally in 2010, they lost to Unichela in the semi-final. They
made a quite comfortable journey to the semis, beating Commercial Bank
by 16, Nation's Trust bank by 121 runs, LB Finance by 121, Singer by 8
wickets, Unichela by 4 wickets, Janashakthi by 178 runs and Union Bank
by 3 wickets. ETI cricketers are now in line with the cream of
Mercantile Cricket in the A Division and they are looking forward to
deliver their best.
ETI: 300 for 7 (D K Ranaweera 101, Amal Athulathmudali 70, Harsha
Cooray 44, Chinthaka Perera 20 n.o., Madura Lakmal 2 for 60, Ishara
Amarasinghe 2 for 75)
MAS Unichela: 122 (Muditha Wijekoon 23, Amal Athulathmudali 5 for 22,
Eranga Gangoda 2 for 24) |
