Merchant Credit and Union Bank qualify for semi finals

Merchant Credit of Sri Lanka and Union Bank booked their places in the semi finals with resounding wins in the concluding league stage matches in the ongoing Prestige Automobile (Pvt) Ltd., sponsored, 'BMW - Hyundai' Cup, MCA 'C' division 50-overs league tournament, continued last week-end.

Merchant Credit, riding on a good double by Amila Perera (65 runs and 3 for 15 in 8.2 overs) beat HSBC 'A' by 88 runs.

Union Bank, thanks to a 150 run stand for the fifth wicket stand, between Vidura Abeywardene (92 runs in 90 balls including 14 fours) and Gihan Ratnayake (55 in 63 balls with 10 fours), beat Standard Chartered by a massive margin of 145 runs.

Thus, the league stage of the tournament came to a conclusion after 21 matches. The four top teams that emerged in the points table, Dimo (20 points), Merchant Credit of Sri Lanka (16 points), Commercial Bank 'A' (16 points) and Union Bank (12 points) advanced to the Semi-finals.

In the semi finals: Merchant Credit of Sri Lanka will meet Commercial Bank 'A' on February 5 at the NCC grounds, while Dimo will take on Union Bank on February 7 at the SSC grounds.

The final will be played on February 11 at the De Soysa Park, Moratuwa.

Week-end's Match Results

At Thurstan : HSBC 'A' beat Softlogic by 18 runs.

HSBC 'A': 161 (R.Lakmal 55, N. Illukwatte 45, M.Gunasinghe 20, G.Jayaweera 4/35, C. Praneeth 3/25)

Softlogic:143 (R. Derlin 25, M. Sepala 20, T. Madusanka 25 not out, D. Indrasinghe 3/20, M. Gunasinghe 5/23)

At Katunayake: Union Bank beat Std. Chartered Bank by 145 runs.

Union Bank: 281 (M. Sandaruwan 22, Vidura Abeywardene 92, Gihan Ratnayake 55, N. Tharaka 40, I. Priyantha 25 not out, T. Fernando 4/50, H. Rajapaksa 2/45, A. Panditharatne 2/65)

SCB:136 (T. de Silva 72 not out, S. Badurdeen 21, N. Tharaka 2/25, W. Randeniya 2/30, S. Kumara 2/25, Shalindra Perera 3/25)

At Katunayake: Merchant Credit of SL beat HSBC "A" by 88 runs.

MCSL: 254/9 (T. Rajakaruna 41, Amila Perera 65, C. De Silva 45, P. Kariapperuma 27 not out, M. Matheen 4/30, M. Gunasinghe 2/50)

HSBC 'A': 166 (R.Lakmal 61, D. Indrasinghe 21, M.Gunasinghe 36, P.Chandrasekera 2/18, Amila Perera 3/15, R.Silva 3/30)