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by Chris Dhambarage

Few years ago he was struggling to find a regular place in a division one team. Like some of the others he did not have an outstanding schools career and was pushed to the second division team.

Twenty nine year old Nandika Ranjith however has forced himself into recognition in the recent past with a couple of extraordinary performances with the ball. The latest effort by this left arm paceman came in the Premier Super League tournament final where he took a matchbag of ten wickets for his club Moors Sports Club.

The reward for his performance was the man of the final award and a cash award of Rs. 50,000. The former schoolboy of Veluwana MV has lived upto expectations as a genuine fast bowler and has ended up with a tally of 52 wickets. Last year too he had similar success for the club and was one of the leading wicket takers in the tournament.

But this time his performances were even more significant because it helped Moors Sports Club win the Premier Super League title for the first time in the history. Ranjith has been a source of inspiration to the side and has always responded when the team is really in a bad way. He is one person who loves to take up a challenge and has bowled his heart out for the side on more than a couple of occasions.

He captured a total of fifteen wickets in just two matches and that is something brilliant which really deserves more recognition. He struck form in the most crucial matches of the tournament and made his presence felt in both the semi-finals and the final. In the first round of course he failed to make an impact and represented the club only in three matches. This is because he was out of the country representing the Sri Lanka 'A' team in Pakistan.

Even then he returned excellent figures of 6 for 27 in the first innings of the match against Chilaw Marians SC. In the Super League first game against NCC he went wicketless but came back strongly to claim four for 74 against SSC. He followed up this with 3 for 50 and 4 for 22 in the match against Colts CC. He picked up 3 for 40 and 2 for 21 against BRC and captured 2 for 35 in the first innings against Tamil Union.

Ranjith took a five wicket haul in the game against Panadura SC and returned figures of 2 for 30 in the first innings against CCC. In the semi-finals against CCC he made a fine impact taking 5 for 49 in the first innings to turn the game in their favour. The final turned out to be a memorable one as he destroyed the Bloomfield batting in both innings capturing 5 for 39 and 5 for 38 respectively.

Ranjith's performances in this tournament was highly appreciated by coach Chandika Hathurusinghe who said that the paceman really bowled well on a flat track at the R. Premadasa Stadium. Hathurusinghe said that Ranjith has the ability to swing the ball into the batsmen and could be rated as the third fastest bowler in Sri Lanka. A total of ninety percent of Ranjith's dismissals have been bowled or leg before wicket which is a clear indication of his accuracy and consistency.

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