Prize money worth Rs. 7.5 m on offer for NSL 4-day final

Governors Trophy winners (from left): Player of the Tournament Mayura Wijesinghe (Ambepussa Sinha SC), Best Bowler Mangala Pradeep (Malay CC), Tournament Committee Chairman Samantha Dodanwela, Head of National Cricket Operations Chintaka Edirimanne, and Best Batsman Kalana Madushanka

• Semi-final line-up: Colombo v Jaffna; Kandy v Galle

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Hambantota and Pallekele will host the two semi-finals of the National Super League four-day cricket tournament from 31 March to 3 April.

The semi-final line-up at the completion of the league matches sees Colombo taking on Jaffna at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota and Kandy playing Galle at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

The winners of the two matches will meet in the final scheduled to be played at the Galle International Cricket Stadium from 7-10 April for prize money worth Rs. 7.5 million.

The winning team will collect a cheque for Rs. 5 million and the runner-up a cheque for Rs. 2.5 million.

There are also individual awards of Rs. 500,000 for the Player of the Tournament and Rs. 250,000 each for Best Batsman and Best Bowler of the tournament.

Meanwhile, the Major Emerging Club 3-day tournament has also reached the semi-final stage with Negombo CC and Tamil Union meeting in the first semi-final at the Army grounds in Dombagoda from 1-3 April.

The second semi-final scheduled to be played from 8-10 April will be between Colts and either Moors SC or Sebastianites at the P. Sara Oval.

Sebastianites are lying second in Group A with a game in hand against bottom of the table Navy SC starting on Friday at Welisara. They trail Moors SC by 12.525 points and an outright win will ensure they go to the top of Group A and gain a semi-final spot.

However, the winners of the two semi-finals will have to wait until the end of the Sinhala-Tamil New Year to play the final which is scheduled for 22, 23 and 24 April at the SSC grounds.

The winning team will receive Rs. 500,000, and the runner-up team Rs. 200,000. Individual awards include Rs. 75,000 for Player of the Tournament, and Rs. 50,000 each for Best Batsman and Best Bowler of the tournament.

Governors Trophy

The top performers of the Governors Trophy (50-over) tournament with 26 teams in participation was decided by Sri Lanka Cricket.

Malay CC’s Kalana Madushanka (299 runs with one 100 and one 50) and Mangala Pradeep (16 wickets, e/r 2.78) bagged the Best Batsman’s and Best Bowler’s awards respectively, while Mayura Wijesinghe of Ambepussa Sinha SC won the Player of the Tournament (173 runs and 13 wickets).