Defending champions Kandy booked their final berth with a nerve tingling one wicket victory over Galle in the Prima Champions Trophy Under-15 Inter-District Tournament Semi-final which went to the wire at Ananda Mawatha yesterday.

Chasing 99 runs to win, Kandy felt the jilts when their top scorer Ron Chandraguptha was undone by Maduka Vimukthi with a brilliant one handed catch in the deep to leave them precariously placed at 97 for nine wickets.

But Rochana Hettiarachchi managed to hold his nerve in the final over to score the winning runs with two balls to spare. He was unbeaten on 15 off six deliveries.

A paltry total of 99, suddenly looked defendable for Galle when Kandy lost wickets at regular intervals.

They were off to a disastrous start loosing three wickets for 15 runs. And they went further down losing seven wickets for 77 runs at the end of the 21st over. But left-hander Chandraguptha gave them hopes when he took bowlers to the task in the dying stages. Chandraguptha hit 39 runs inclusive of four fours and one six before being caught brilliantly by Vimukthi in the penultimate over.

Batting first Galle were restricted to 98 runs as Nuwan Karunaratne, Dushan Malalasena and Ron Chandraguptha shared seven wickets between them. Hasitha Madushan was the only batsman to top 20 runs as he top scored with 30 runs (in 55 deliveries) for Galle.

The match was played as a 25 overs a side affair after wet ground conditions delayed the start.

Now Kandy will meet Colombo South ‘A’ in the finals.

Galle 98 all out in 24.4 overs (Maduka Vimukthi 13, Yohan Rashmika 14, Hasitha Madushan 30; Nuwan Karunaratne 2/14, Dushan Malalasena 3/05, Ron Chandraguptha 2/10)

Kandy 99 for 9 in 24.4 overs (Ron Chandraguptha 39, Rajitha Jayatunga 10, Dushan Malalasena 11, Rochana Hettiarachchi 15n.o; Chamod Piyumal 3/12, Hasitha Madushan 2/19)

Isuru Gunathilaka, Thaveesha Ratnayake and Jeson Bultjens scored half centuries in a huge total of 293 runs as Colombo South ‘A’ registered an easy 131 run victory over Badulla in their semi-final played at Bambalapitiya yesterday.

Colombo South A 293 all out in 36.3 overs (Isuru Gunathilaka 60, Thaveesha Ratnayake 57, Jeson Bultjens 52, Chathuranga Rajapakse 43, Ronaka Ahangamage 24; Akila Niroshan 2/37, Mahela Bandara 2/35, Gamini Bandara 2/71)

Badulla 162 all out in 48.4 overs (Lahiru Dushantha 63, Kavindu Dimuth 23; Ranitha Liyanarachchi 3/32, Chamila Godallawatte 3/27, Julian de Zilva 2/26)