Congratulations
Centurions CC were crowned the Super9 Champions of the TDCA 2022 season as they won the Super9 Final by 79 runs against JB Masters, with the help of decisive partnerships at the top of their innings and impressive bowling from their spinners.
Having won the toss and electing to bat first, Srimantha Wijeyaratne and Rayyan Khan Pathan provided the team with one of their best starts of the season by racing to 73/0 in the first 10 overs. The batsmen were quick to read the slowness of the pitch at an early stage and latched on to the pacers. While Rayyan was unlucky to have missed out on his well deserved half century, Srimantha and Mihir Patel sustained the momentum gained from the initial overs and continued to keep the scoreboard ticking, albeit some tight bowling from the Masters. Mihir took to his anchor role to perfection and Srimantha’s experience was on full display as both batsmen farmed strike beautifully and continued to score the odd boundary and put the pressure on the bowlers.
There was a glimpse of hope for the JB Masters in the middle as Centurions CC lost 3 wickets in quick succession, but Centurions held their nerve before going hard in the final overs. With two seasoned bats in Dhanuka Pathirana and Nikhil Dutta coming down the order, it was only a matter of time as Centurions scored 40 off the last 5 overs to post an imposing 250/7 in 40 overs. Junaid and Crandon were the pick of the bowlers from JB Masters as they ended with 34/2 and 38/2 respectively.
In the chase, Centurions were smart again to have started with their slow bowlers and the move paid them rich dividends as both openers were dismissed cheaply in successive overs. Raymond had Junaid caught at slip while Shihan castled Rodrigo to leave the masters tattering at 2/2. The Masters bunkered down to take account of the wicket, and Centurions continued relentlessly with some tight bowling and exemplary fielding.
Just when Harsh Thaker and Varun Sehdev were looking to up the ante, Aran P floated one up to challenge Varun to come down the wicket – only to be stumped by Srimantha. The breakthrough couldn’t have come at a better time – as Centurions soon started to chip them away at regular intervals. Aran and Nikhil kept things economical and never let the batsmen get into their zones. The Masters had Nicholas Manohar come late down the order and Sheel Patel continued to impress with some lusty blows but it was too late to arrive, and the Centurions wrapped the game up with 5 balls to spare.
