SSC eat humble pie as Malay CC win Tier B T20 final

Champion team Malay CC with awards

• Red-letter day for Malay CC

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

It was a red-letter day for Malay CC as they humbled the mighty SSC by six wickets to win the SLC Tier B T20 final played at the Colts grounds yesterday.

To say the least SSC were totally outplayed in all three departments of the game by the Malay CC outfit who barely put a foot wrong. They won the toss and inserted SSC in first and with brilliant fielding and tight bowling dismissed the powerful line-up that comprised six national players for 100. Then Malay CC’s batsmen ensured the good work done on the field was carried to a finish with some sensible batting that left SSC with no chance of making any late comeback on a slow-ish pitch that one would say was not ideal for a T20 game, but still good enough to produce a keen contest.

Kavinda Ishwara was the stand out player for Malay CC with an all-round contribution of 2/21 and 26 off 18 balls that brought him the Player of the Final award of Rs. 100,000.

Malay CC received an early boost with the wicket of Krishan Sanjula who was brilliantly caught by Sudara Dakshina for a duck in the first over. From that point onwards it was a hard struggle for the oncoming SSC batsmen as they tried to come to terms with the slowness of the pitch and the accuracy of the Malay CC bowlers. Only skipper Avishka Fernando stood tall for SSC with 35 off 37 balls. Seamer Thimira Malshan once again excelled with the ball finishing with 3/21.

Player of the Tournament Avishka Fernando (SSC) 

Defending a small target of 101, SSC needed early wickets but they were not forthcoming as swiftly as they would have liked. For Malay CC it was a question of pushing the singles and hitting the loose balls for four as their asking rate was not that great to put any pressure on their batting. They did that with composure not allowing SSC’s varied and experienced bowling attack to make any early inroads into their batting to pull off a famous win that would be etched in their 153-year history.

Last year too Malay CC won the Tier B T20 final beating Army SC by five wickets, but yesterday’s win against a strong and formidable club like the SSC will be much sweeter.

For the SSC, nothing seems to be going right for them, despite the fact that they are one of the most elite cricket clubs in the domestic circuit with several national players in their ranks. Having suffered the ignominy of being demoted to play in Tier B of the domestic tournament last year, their attempt to make an impact in this lower level of cricket suffered another setback when they were humbled by a determined Malay CC side who beat them rather comprehensively.

SSC’s losing Captain Avishka Fernando said it was their batting that let them down and gave full credit to Malay CC.

“They played better than us. We were playing in Tier B for the first time and there was pressure on us to win, but we were outplayed by Malay CC.”

Sudara Dakshina, the Malay CC skipper who led them to victory last year said they were determined to repeat their success.

“Playing against a side like the SSC we were not under any pressure. What we decided was to keep them to a score as low as possible and we were able to do that. Our target was to keep bowling plenty of dot balls and that put a lot of pressure on their batting. That’s how we managed to keep them to a low score,” said Dakshina.

Player of the Final Kavinda Ishwara (Malay CC)

“Although we were chasing 100 it was not a good wicket to bat on so we gave the licence to our openers to bat positively and get us as close as possible to the target. I am extremely proud of my team because the majority of players in the side are under 23 years of age. To come on a journey with them and win, I am extremely happy.”

Malay CC won the title beating two good sides Ragama CC in the semi-finals and SSC in the final. As champions they picked up a cheque for Rs. 750,000 and the champion’s trophy. SSC received Rs. 500,000 as runner-up.

Individual awards went to Best Bowler of the Tournament (Rs. 200,000) – Amitha Kaushalya (Galle CC), Best Batsman of the Tournament (Rs. 200,000) – Denuwan Rajakaruna (United Southern SC) and Player of the Tournament (Rs. 300,000) – Avishka Fernando (SSC).

The awards were presented by Tournament Committee chairman and SLC Executive Committee member Nalin Aponso.

Scores: SSC 100 (19.4) (Avishka Fernando 35, Dinura Kalupahana 19, Thimira Malshan 3/21, Kavinda Ishwara 2/21, Chanaka Devinda 2/14)

Malay CC 101-4 (18.2) (Hirantha Jayasinghe 19, Kavinda Ishwara 26, Buddhika Hasaranga 25*)