SLC Premier League Cricket Review:

Moors tarnish SSC’s unbeaten record

Chris DHAMBARAGE

Moors Sports Club brought an end to SSC’s unbeaten record with a giant killing performance during the seventh week of matches of the SLC Premier League inter club four day Tier ‘A’ tournament which was severely disrupted by bad weather in Colombo during the weekend.

However Moors SC weathered the storm and managed to register a surprise first innings victory on their home grounds at Braybrooke Place. Their success have also provided them with an outside chance of winning the title as they reduced to gap to just over 20 points with the table leaders SSC.

Skipper Dilhara Lokuhettige led from the front with an excellent all round performance as the SSC batting looked vulnerable probably for the first time in the tournament.

Lokuhettige snapped up three key wickets and played a major role with the ball in dismissing the opposition to under two hundred runs in their first innings.

Lokuhettige then made his presence felt with the bat too with an explosive half century that sealed the game in Moors SC’s favour. He of course came in to the crease at a vital stage after Moors SC had lost a couple of early wickets and were in danger of conceding first innings points.

But Lokuhettige decided to counter attack and succeeded in overcoming the pressure as Moors SC went on to build up a substantial first innings lead. In fact they could have even pulled off an outright victory if not for the bad weather which ruined the entire fourth and final days play.

But still Moors SC caused a lot of damage to SSC’s reputation by reducing them to 131 for 6 in their second innings. This was one of the worse outings for SSC where their batting was concerned with only Thilina Kandamby making any impact with a fighting half century in the first innings.

CCC v Baduraliya SC

Meanwhile Colts CC too kept their hopes alive of winning the title with a comprehensive six wicket outright victory over Baduraliya SC in their SLC Premier League tournament match worked off at Maitland Crescent during the weekend.

The manner in which they completed their task was quite outstanding because at one stage they were heading towards disaster and almost concerned first innings points. They had an awful start to their first innings where they lost four wickets for just 15 runs while chasing their opponents modest total of 175.

However CCC recovered well through their late order batsman and succeeded in obtaining a close first innings lead. They never looked back from there onwards and consolidated their position by dismissing the opposition for 185 runs in the second innings.

All rounder Jehan Mubarak certainly celebrated his re entry into the Sri Lanka one day squad with a splendid performance with both bat and ball. He first picked up four wickets to end Baduraliya SC’s stubborn resistance in the second innings and then followed up with a solid half century that sealed the game in their favour.

CCC’s major concern of course was the bad weather which had cut short valuable playing time on all four days. But still they were determined to get on with the job and came out with one of their better performances that has put them in contention of winning the title.

In fact CCC have now reduced the margin to just over 15 points from their closest rivals and the table leaders SSC with two more matches to be worked off.

Colts v Chilaw Marians

Colts CC also did well to beat the weather and their opponents Chilaw Marians SC outright by ten wickets in their SLC Premier League inter club four day Tier ‘A’ tournament match worked off at Havelock Park during the weekend.

In fact Colts CC completed their task with more than a day to spare which was certainly a creditable achievement considering the fact that they had really struggled for runs in their first innings. But they came back magnificently and delivered the final blow in a spectacular manner with Sajeewa Weerakoon adding the finishing touches.

Even then Colts CC went through some anxious moments as they struggled to overcome their opponents modest first innings total of 181 runs. They slumped to 127 for 8 at one stage before two of their more experienced players Rashan Peiris and Kanishka Elvitigala rescued them with fighting half centuries.

The pair took Colts CC towards a safe position through some sensible batting that opened the gates for their third outright victory this season. Sajeewa Weerakoon then got his act together well with an inspired spell of bowling that saw Chilaw Marians SC been dismissed for 157 runs in the second innings.

Ragama v Tamil Union

Ragama CC came out with their best performance to beat Tamil Union outright by a massive margin of 195 runs in their SLC Premier League inter club four day Tier ‘A’ tournament match worked off at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium last week.

This win had a great amount of significance as Ragama CC jumped into the top six of the latest points table having occupied the last position during the last few weekends.

Their success was quite unique considering the fact that they had conceded first innings points after being bowled out for a paltry 129 runs. But in a dramatic change of events Ragama CC completely turned the game in their favour with an improved batting performance in the second innings.

They rattled up a formidable 346 for 6 largely due to some good contributions from senaratne, De Saram, S. Perera and Kaushalya Weeraratne.

In fact this game turned out to be a successful outing for paceman Weeraratne who celebrated his comeback into the Sri Lanka one day squad with a fine all round performance.

However the real match winning effort came from Darshana Gamage who added the finishing touches with a superb four wicket haul. As a result Tamil Union were bowled out for just 143 runs in their second innings with leg spinner Malinga Bandara providing the back up support.

Tamil Union of course managed to collect at least first innings points thanks to some stubborn resistance from Muditha Maduwantha and Muthumudalige Pushpakumara.

Bloomfield v NCC

Meanwhile Bloomfield were deprived of a certain outright victory against NCC as bad weather spoiled the entire fourth and final days play of their SLC Premier League inter club four day Tier ‘A’ tournament match worked off at Reid Avenue last week.

Bloomield were well on course to collecting the maximum points as they fell short by just 67 runs from reaching their eventual victory target. They had the full fourth and final days play to achieve their target but unfortunately not a ball was bowled owing to overnight rain.

The architects in Bloomfield’s first innings victory were paceman Tyronne Gamage and Sri Lanka discard Sanath Jayasuriya. The former had a superb five wicket haul as Bloomfield took the initiative by dismissing their opponents for a modest 151 runs.

Bloomfield too found it difficult in making runs in reply but managed to take a close first innings lead following useful contributions from Jayasuriya, Gunaratne, Jayasinghe and Gangodawila. In fact Jayasyriya had a good game with the ball while claiming four wickets in the NCC second innings.