da mrbet： Hatton National Bank and Seylan Bank qualified to play the final of the Mercantile Cricket Association tournament when they beat John Keels and Access Group respectively.
Rex Clementine Fernando17-Jun-2001Hatton National Bank and Seylan Bank qualified to play the final ofthe Mercantile Cricket Association tournament when they beat John Keels andAccess Group respectively.Defending champions HNB, with several national cricketers in theirranks, cruised to a 176 run victory against John Keels at the Colts CricketClub Ground in Colombo. Winning the toss HNB skipper, Russell Arnold, electedto bat first and his side piled up a mammoth 309 for 7 in their allotted 50overs. Hard hitting Avishka Gunawardena, opening the innings, set the tunewith a quick fire 59 off just 54 deliveries. During his innings he hit 11 fours and a six.After the fine start Lanka de Silva and Malintha Warnapura put their heads down and played sensibly to help their side go past the 300 run mark. Warnapura made 68 while his senior partner Lanka de Silva made an unbeaten 96. The pair put on 113 runs for the third wicket.In reply, John Keels were shot out for a paltry 133 withMalintha Warnapura picking up 4 wickets for 25 runs. Michael Vandort topscored with 54.Seylan Bank meanwhile beat Access group by 14 runs after a close contestat Moors Sports Club Ground. Seylan batting first made 260 for the loss of7 wickets in their 50 overs. Mahela Jayawardene was the top scorer forSeylan with a brilliant 110 with seven fours and five sixes. During his inningsJayawardene was involved in a 125 run partnership with Sampath Perera for thefifth wicket. Perera made 45.Replying, Access lost most of their frontline batsman early and it wasleft to the lower middle order to restore some pride. At one stage Accesswere five down for 63 with Aravinda de Silva, Ruwan Kalpage, AnilRideegammanagedera and Jeevantha Kulathunga all back in the pavilion. A determined effort, however, from A.C. Perera took them close to theSeylan total. They ended up making 246 in 47.5 overs. Asela Pathirana batting atnumber seven made a stubborn 83. In the bowling department Kaushalya Weereratnepicked up three wickets while Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando and Nuwan Shiromanpicked up two wickets each.Seylan Bank will now meet the defending champions HNB in the final at NCC Grounds next weekend.