Skipper Dharmasena steers HNB to final

Good captaincy by Kumara Dharmasena who capped it with a fine all round performance guided Hatton National Bank to a 58-run victory over Sampath Bank in the semi-finals played at the NCC grounds on Saturday.

The win put HNB in the final of the Mercantile 'A' division limited over cricket tournament.

The encounter was in the hype due an ongoing row between the two banks over share issues which many thought would spill onto the cricket field, but none of them surfaced during the match.

Put into bat, HNB got off to a slow, but steady start, although losing Avishaka Gunawardena (8) when the score was on 18. Their middle order batsmen occupied the crease to ensure the side reach a formidable score of 217 for eight wickets.

Skipper Dharmasena playing the anchor role was unbeaten on 46, while TM Dilshan made a half century off 70 balls. Saman Jayantha (30), Prasanna Jayawardena(23) and Russel Arnold (20) were the other notable scorers for HNB.

The bowling honours for Sampath Bank were shared by skipper Chandika Haturusingha (2/34), Indika Gallage(2/39), and Charinda Fernando (2/53).

In reply, Sampath Bank lost wickets at regular intervals and were never within reach of their target. Their innings was restricted to 157 for nine wickets in the allotted 50 overs. Only Bathiya Perera resisted the HNB spin attack scoring 31off 43 balls while Haturusingha made 21 Malinda Warnapura (3/37) bowled best for HNB with Chinthaka Jayasinghe(2/30), Shanuka Dissanayake(2/8) chipping in at valuable moments. Sanjeewa Weerakoon, the best bowler of the tournament took a wicket for 19 runs.