IN their last run out before the Mike Holmes Tournament final, Vijay cruised to victory over an under-strength Luckstars.

Missing batsmen Pat and Sulu, and with bowler Roshan also out of action, winless Luckstars faced a daunting task in attempting to hold back Vijay, the only side with a 100 percent winning record.

Deciding to make Vijay chase the match, Luckstars' skipper Seneratne opened the batting alongside Tim, but only put on 5 before being dismissed by Arvind.

After the similarly cheap dismissal of Bandula, Tim was joined by Thusitha and the pair put together the 'Stars' strongest period of play, combining to make 40.

Tim was eventually trapped LBW by Vishram, on 21, and Thusitha succumbed to the prolific Jaijith after making 19.

Jaijith went on to claim 3 of the next 4 wickets, alluded only by Prassad, who struck a useful 12 in the middle order, before being caught by Krishna off Arvind.

The tail end quickly dissolved, Guru holding his wicket, on 4, when the Luckstars innings ended, 95 all out.

In contrast to last week's sluggardly run chase against Supercats, in which Vijay lost 8 wickets to reach 80, the latest match saw Vijay hammer into the 'Stars bowlers.

In defiant mood, openers Kaushal and Krishna looked like closing the gap by themselves, Kaushal powering to 34 and Krishna on a quick fire 32.

Though the openers fell before reaching the total, the way was clear for the following batsmen to make up the difference.

Three wickets tumbled cheaply as the Luckstars bowlers fought back, but were unable to stop Summit and Dhanji from easing Vijay to a winning 96, 5 wickets down and with overs in hand.

Having taken 4 for 21 Jaijith was an easier choice for man-of-the-match than choosing between the batting of Kaushal and Krishna.

Vijay's win over the 'Cats in their most recent encounter coupled with their undefeated record for the season so far will mark them down as favourites for next Sunday's Freedom Square final. But, having been beaten finalists on a number of occasions last season, Vijay are far from guaranteed a comfortable win over a fired-up Supercats.

M. H.