Premier Cricket Review:
Chilaw Marians in dramatic win
Chris Dhambarage
Chilaw Marians Sports Club bounced back into recognition with a
tremendous performance during the second week of matches in the SLC
Premier League Tier A tournament.
Last week at Katunayake they brought down a fighting Sri Lanka Army
SC outfit by one wicket in a most thrilling encounter. Their success of
course was in the balance at one stage after they had conceded a first
innings lead of 12 runs to their opponents.
Sri Lanka Cricket donated over Rs. 3.5 million for the
Premier League Tier A and Tier B clubs participating in the
current tournament. Pictured here is the Chairman SLC
Interim Committee Arjuna Ranatunga presenting the cheques at
the SLC headquarters. (From left): Karunaratne
Wickremasinghe (President Seeduwa Raddoluwa CC), Leo
Wijesinghe (Manager NCC), Mrs. Indrani Ariyaratne (Moratuwa
SC). Also in the picture are Ashley de Silva (Head of
Operations SLC) and Chandima Mapatuna (Manager Tournaments
SLC). Pictures by Herbert Perera |
Their hopes further disappeared when they collapsed to 50 for 9 while
chasing a target of 70 runs. However the Chilaw Marians SC last pair of
Chinthaka Perera and Ishan Silva rose to the big occasion and put their
heads down to play more intelligently and steer their side towards a
memorable victory.
This was no doubt a real morale booster for Chilaw Marians SC who had
lost their opening encounter to the defending champions SSC on the first
innings at Maitland Place.
But this time they looked more determined on the field and also had
the satisfaction bowling out Army SC for just 58 runs in their second
innings. This was mainly due to some splendid bowling from Gayan
Wijekoon and Dinuk Hettiarachchi.
Chilaw Marians SC then had the opportunity of wrapping up the game by
a more convincing margin as they had plenty of time and overs to reach
their target. But instead they made a complete mess of the situation and
almost paid the penalty for some careless batting.
Army SC could look back with a great amount of satisfaction having
stretched their opponents to the maximum in their very first appearance
in the Tier A tournament. They certainly had an outside chance but sheer
bad luck prevented them from pulling off what would have been a historic
triumph.
Ragama CC v Baduraliya CC
Ragama CC produced a fine all round performance to beat the giant
killers Baduraliya CC outright by and innings and 37 runs in their SLC
Premier League Tier A match worked off at Barybrooke Place last week.
Ragama CC of course went into this game under tremendous pressure
after Baduraliya CC had made a spectacular start to the season by
outplaying the more fancied NCC team in their opening encounter at
Maitland Place.
But Ragama CC overcame all obstacles and collected the maximum points
by emerging victorious by a convincing margin at the end. In the process
they had the satisfaction of bundling out their opponents for a mere 53
runs in the second innings which is in fact the lowest total so far in
the competition.
This was mainly due to some penetrative bowling from Saliya Saman and
Dharshana Gamage who played havoc with the Baduraliya CC batting. All
rounder Kaushalya Weeraratne then added the finishing touches by
claiming a six wicket haul in the second innings.
Baduraliya CC of course put up an improved batting performance in
their second attempt with R. Perera, P. Jayaprakash and U. Fernando
making a desperate attempt to save the game. However Weeraratne was in
devastating form as he ripped through the Baduraliya CC top order with a
real hostile spell of bowling.
The Ragama CC batting revolved around Duminda Perera, Sameera Soysa
and all rounder Malinga Bandara with all making significant
contributions towards their first innings total of 285 runs.
SSC v Colts CC
The defending champions SSC had to be satisfied with first innings
points as bad weather interfered their key match against Colts CC at
Maitland Place during the weekend.
SSC of course had set the stage for an outright victory by piling up
a formidable 378 in their first innings and then by bundling out their
opponents for a modest 164 runs. However bad weather coupled with some
stubborn batting from the Colts CC top order spoiled all their chances
of taking a firm grip of the match.
Colts CC really made amends for their first innings batting debacle
with Ishan Muthalip and Dhanuka Pathirana leading from the front. The
experienced pair made certain that they would not make the same mistake
twice with a solid performance that helped them to maintain their
reputation.
The match turned out to be a significant one for former Sri Lanka
paceman Nuwan Zoysa who was in excellent form with both bat and ball.
The left arm seamer ran through the Colts CC batting with a superb five
wicket haul after he had earlier plundered a swashbuckling half century.
This was after Navin Perera had missed out a fine century by just
four runs as SSC took the initiative by dominating the opening days play
following another good half century by Dimuth Karunaratne.
Bloomfield v Tamil Union
Bloomfield rattled up the highest total for the season but they had
to be content with a first innings victory over Tamil Union in their SLC
Premier League Tier A tournament match worked off at the P.
Saravanamuttu Stadium last week.
Bloomfield piled up a massive 573 in their first innings with the
help of a fine century from Sri Lanka discard Tillekeratne Dilshan. The
manner in which the rest of the batsmen handled the situation was quite
outstanding as they completely outclassed their opponents on the field.
Shanuka Dissanayake also came closer of reaching the three figure
mark while Chamara Silva and wicket keeper Prasanna Jayawardena also
joined in the fun with useful contributions. However Bloomfield's hopes
of an outright victory vanished quickly following heavy rain during the
final session.
Earlier Tamil Union did well to reach 299 in their first innings with
the bulk of the runs coming from the bat of Gihan Rupasinghe. The
dynamic all rounder rescued Tamil Union with a magnificent 154 not out
after their top order had crumbled against the pace of Tharanga
Lakshitha.
NCC v CCC
NCC took first innings points over their arch rivals CCC in a low
scoring Premier League Tier A tournament match worked off at Maitland
Crescent last week.
NCC were under some kind of pressure after they had managed to score
just over 250 runs in their first innings.
However their bowlers really stuck to their task with a pleasing
performance where Tharaka Kottahewea, Kosala Kulasekera and Chanaka
Komasaru had an outstanding game.
As a result CCC were shot for 158 runs and were in danger of losing
the game outright. However they came back strongly in the second innings
with Nisal Randhika and Bathiya Perera scoring fighting half centuries.
NCC too were in trouble at one stage but their late order batsmen put
up a great performance to take them towards a winning position with
Kosala Kulasekera and Tharaka Kottahewa making half centuries. |