Can first timers and less fancied Police SC stand up to CCC Final branding: Favourites against pushovers?

Ashen Bandara (Police SC captain-left) and Sonal Dinusha (CCC captain) hold the trophy they will play for 

By M. Shamil Amit

The curtain in the Major Club limited overs cricket tournament will come down today with the final clash for the title between Colombo Cricket Club (CCC) and Police SC scheduled to be played under floodlights at the CCC ground.

Led by Sonal Dinusha CCC who were last year’s runner-up will be seeking to make amends this time while Police SC led by Ashen Bandara will be making their maiden appearance in a major domestic tournament final and aiming to lay their hands on the title.

The two teams climaxed their round robin campaign with five wins and a defeat each and ended as the top teams in their respective groups with Police SC in Group ‘A’ and CCC in Group ‘B’ and qualified to the semifinals.

In the semifinal encounters CCC pulled off a comfortable 68 runs win over Tamil Union while Police SC underwent some anxious moments before staving off the challenge of Colts Cricket Club and prevailed with a four wicket win in a low scoring game.

The two teams possess capable and players worthy of a final, but CCC has some big names in the likes of skipper Sonal Dinusha who made an unbeaten 83 in the semifinal, Nishan Madushka who holds the honour of having made the highest individual score of the tournament (153), Dhananjaya de Silva, Kamindu Mendis, Pavan Ratnayake, Lasith Croospulle and Sahan Kosala in the batting department. In bowling they got the strength of Vishwa Fernando, Nuwan Thushara, Nishan Peiris and Chamindu Wijesinghe along with Kamindu Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva to support.

Police SC have in their ranks players in the caliber of Kusal Perera, skipper Ashen Bandara, Vishad Randika, Priyamal Perera, Dhanuja Induwara and Nadeera Balasooriya to propel their batting while the bowling will be in the hands of Dilum Sudeera, Charuka Pramod, Naveen Fernando and Nalin Priyadharshana with support expected from Nadeera Balasooriya and Dhanuja Induwara to curtail the strong bating of CCC.

However with the two teams moving into the game with a mission, looking back at the performances the scale tilts in favour of CCC although Police SC cannot be written off in their first ever major domestic tournament final. They too will leave no stone unturned to achieve their aim.