Standout performances on the Tier B T20 stage
ThePapareNews article
The journey to find the 2026 champions of the Tier B Twenty20 cricket tournament organised by Sri Lanka Cricket, featuring 6 teams across 2 groups, ended with Army SC being crowned champions. The runners-up were Leo CC, who were beaten by 6 wickets in the grand final.
Across this tournament, which comprised 67 innings in 37 matches, 8780 runs were compiled with 33 half-centuries, 636 fours and 309 sixes, while 496 wickets fell.
Here is a note on the notable milestones recorded and the performances that earned recognition in the tournament that concluded with those numbers.
Player of the Final – Shehan Soysa (Army SC)
The Player of the Final in this edition of the tournament was Shehan Soysa, the captain of the victorious Army SC side.
He claimed the award for the innings he built when his team were 39 for 3. Facing 22 balls, he made 41 with 3 sixes and 3 fours, releasing his team from the pressure they were under.
In that innings he also put together a fourth-wicket stand of 63 in 42 balls with Krishen Aponsu.
With that performance he finished the tournament with 65 runs in 7 innings. Among those runs, his best innings was the one he recorded in the grand final.
A right-arm off-spinner, he conceded 31 runs from his 4 overs in the grand final, and across the tournament he bowled 23.0 overs to take 6 wickets. His best bowling figures were 4 wickets for 28 runs against Kandy Customs SC.
Now 26 years old, Shehan Soysa has played 13 first-class matches, taking 29 wickets, and has claimed 20 wickets in 9 first-class one-day matches.
Best Bowler of the Tournament – Ishan Abeysekara (Navy SC)
The Best Bowler of the tournament was 33-year-old Ishan Abeysekara of Navy SC. Having joined Navy SC as a leg-spinner, he claimed this award on the back of taking 13 wickets in 6 matches in this tournament.
The best of those bowling efforts was his 4 wickets for 7 runs against Army SC.
Ishan Abeysekara, who has taken 105 wickets in 33 first-class matches, has also scored 1017 runs with a first-class century and 5 half-centuries. In addition, he has taken 9 wickets and scored 175 runs in 15 first-class one-day matches, and 14 wickets and 153 runs in 16 Twenty20 matches.
14 : The leading wicket-taker of the tournament was Kavinda Eeshwara of Ragama CC.
The leading wicket-takers of the tournament
- Player · Team · M · Over · Md · Runs · Wkts · Best · 4
- 1 · Kavinda Eeshwara · Ragama CC · 6 · 23.0 · 0 · 124 · 14 · 3/18 · 0
- 2 · Ishan Abeysekara · Navy SC · 6 · 20.2 · 2 · 96 · 13 · 4/07 · 1
- 3 · Sudara Dakshina · Leo CC · 8 · 28.3 · 0 · 189 · 12 · 4/13 · 1
- 4 · Supun Dilshan · Leo CC · 8 · 27.3 · 0 · 188 · 11 · 3/17 · 0
- 5 · Nirmala Ratnayake · Kandy Customs SC · 5 · 17.0 · 0 · 129 · 10 · 4/24 · 1
- Janaka Sampath · Army SC · 7 · 24.1 · 0 · 143 · 10 · 4/18 · 1
- Lilan Ratnayake · Army SC · 7 · 26.0 · 1 · 144 · 10 · 3/12 · 0
4/07 : The best bowling figures in an innings in the tournament were recorded by Ishan Abeysekara of Navy SC. He achieved this against Army SC.
Best Batter of the Tournament – Yashoda Mendis (Kandy Customs SC)
The Best Batter award in this tournament went to 34-year-old Yashoda Mendis, who represented Kandy Customs SC.
He claimed the award for the performances that saw him score 169 runs with two half-centuries in 5 matches by the end of the first round of the tournament.
The highest of those innings was his 61 against Navy SC, made off 42 balls with one four and 6 sixes. In addition, against Army SC he made 55 off 32 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes. Striking 11 sixes in the 5 innings he completed, he also shared top spot on the list of players with the most sixes in the tournament alongside Thisara Perera of Army SC.
He also impressed as a bowler, taking 5 wickets in the tournament, with his best innings return being 3 wickets for 41 runs against Galle CC.
Yashoda Mendis has so far played 25 first-class matches, scoring 592 runs with a half-century and taking 48 wickets, while also making 232 runs and taking 7 wickets in 19 first-class one-day matches, and scoring 76 runs and taking 17 wickets in 14 Twenty20 matches.
222 : The leading run-scorer of the tournament was Damesh Mathishan of United Southern CC.
The 5 leading run-scorers of the tournament
- Player · Team · M · Ins · NO · Runs · HS · Ave · 100 · 50
- 1 · Damesh Mathishan · United Southern CC · 5 · 5 · 1 · 222 · 60 · 55.5 · 0 · 2
- 2 · Manushka Samith · Army SC · 7 · 7 · 1 · 188 · 82* · 31.3 · 0 · 2
- 3 · Nethma Karunaratne · Leo CC · 6 · 6 · 1 · 186 · 57* · 37.2 · 0 · 2
- 4 · Ashan Sudarshana · Army SC · 7 · 7 · 0 · 180 · 50 · 25.7 · 0 · 1
- 5 · Thisara Perera · Army SC · 7 · 7 · 2 · 177 · 51* · 35.4 · 0 · 1
82* : The highest individual score in an innings in the tournament was made by Manushka Samith of Army SC. He achieved this against Ragama CC.
11x 6s : Yashoda Mendis of Kandy Customs SC and Thisara Perera of Army SC shared top spot as the players who struck the most sixes in the tournament.
21x 4s : The player who struck the most fours in the tournament was Ashan Sudarshana of Army SC.
2x 50s : Sharing top spot for the most half-centuries in the tournament were Arosha Sithumina and Kasun Vidura of Chilaw Marians CC, Yashoda Mendis of Kandy Customs SC, Damesh Mathishan of United Southern CC, Manushka Samith of Army SC, and Nethma Karunaratne and Ashan Fernando of Leo CC.
14 Balls : The fastest half-century of the tournament was scored by Poorna Prabhath of Moratuwa SC. He achieved this against Kurunegala SC.
Most Valuable Player of the Tournament – Kavinda Eeshwara (Ragama CC)
The Most Valuable Player of the tournament was Kavinda Eeshwara, who represented Ragama CC. The 24-year-old made his biggest impact in this tournament as a bowler.
A right-arm off-spinner, he ended the tournament as its leading wicket-taker. He recorded his best innings figures of 3 wickets for 18 runs against Navy SC and impressed by taking 14 wickets in the tournament.
As a batter, he scored 62 runs in 6 innings across 6 matches in this tournament.
Kavinda Eeshwara previously represented Malay CC and was named Player of the Final in the Tier B T20 tournaments held in both 2024 and 2025, earning the honour in two successive years.
His match list so far records just 2 first-class matches and 3 first-class one-day matches.
214/5 : The honour of recording the highest team total of the tournament belongs to Chilaw Marians CC. They achieved this against Kurunegala SC.
76 : The lowest innings total of the tournament was recorded by Navy SC. This unfortunate innings came in 14.5 overs against Leo CC.
397 : The honour of the highest aggregate runs scored by two teams in a match in the tournament belongs to Chilaw Marians CC and Kurunegala SC. Chilaw Marians CC made 214 for 5 and Kurunegala SC made 183 for 9.
98 Runs : The team that recorded the biggest winning margin by runs in the tournament was Leo CC. They achieved this against Navy SC.
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Based on ThePapare reporting