Hayleys emerges as T20 champions at 27th Singer MCA Tournament

Hayleys Chairman and Chief Executive Mohan Pandithage and Group Head of HR, Legal, Corporate Communications, Sustainability and Group Security Darshi Talpahewa with the victorious Hayleys Team 

Aggressive bowling and a dominant batting line up helped the Hayleys Group T20 Mercantile cricket team clinch victory against former champions, MAS Unichela in the thrilling final match of the 27th Singer Mercantile Cricket Association Premier League yesterday. 

Bowling MAS Unichela all out for a respectable 145 runs in 19.1, the Hayleys team went on to chase down their total in 17.5 overs, winning the game and the title of T20 Champions with an impressive six wickets to spare. 

Precise bowling by Hayleys’ dynamic all-rounder Lahiru Samarakoon, together with Santhush Gunathilake and Prabath Jayasuriya helped contain MAS Unichela’s first innings tally – with Samarakoon picking up four wickets for 19 runs, while Gunathilake and Jayasuriya posted 2/35 and 1/15 respectively.           

Recognising his outstanding efforts with the bat and ball, after he went on to score a quick-fire 21 runs off 14 delivers, Samarakoon was declared Man of the Final, and also picked up the title of Best Bowler across the four games in the tournament during which he picked up a total of 12 wickets.     

Meanwhile, Avishka Fernando was declared Best Batsman for an equally impressive 196 runs across the tournament. Notably, the Hayleys batting performance in the finals was also anchored by Ron Chandragupta who scored 55 runs not out, supported by an aggressive performance from Sachithra Serasinghe with 33 off 27 deliveries.