SLC Premier Cricket Review:

Colts - step closer to Premier League Title

Chris DHAMBARAGE

Colts CC moved further closer towards winning the SLC Premier League Tier A title while recording their fifth outright victory of the tournament. Last week they brought down NCC by six wickets with more than a day to spare at Maitland Place.

In fact this was the second occasion in successive outings that they had pulled off the game within two days which is a remarkable achievement indeed. They looked very much focused on the game and altogether their body language showed their determination and the will to succeed.

The only danger associated with their play was the amount of risk that they took in reaching their final victory target. They could have easily added the finishing touches in a more convincing style by stretching the match into the third and final day.

However this Colts CC team simply wanted to prove something and to completely demolish their opponents in a more ruthless manner. This was exactly what they achieved as they reached their target of 173 runs in quick time.

They were in some sorts of trouble at the beginning but Dhanuka Pathirana came into their rescue with a brilliant century that sealed the game for the Havelock Park side. Pathirana was not the only player to excel for Colts CC and it was Sajeewa Weerakoon who actually opened the gates for their success claiming another matchbag of eight wickets.

Wijekoon is undoubtedly one of their key players in the line up and he lived upto expectations with another fabulous performance with the ball. He was certainly inspired by the return of ace fast bowler Chaminda Vaas who also played an important role with both bat and ball.

SSC v Tamil Union

SSC ended their hopes of retaining the title in a disappointing manner after they managed to collect only first innings points over Tamil Union in their SLC Premier League Tier A tournament match worked off at Maitland Place last week.

SSC were faced with a must win situation and had a slim chance of winning the title had they been able to clinch the match outright. However their hopes were completely shattered following a splendid batting performance from Tamil Union who fell short by 68 runs at the end. SSC of course set the pace for an outright victory by piling up a massive 454 in their first innings. Their idea was then to dismiss the opposition for a low score and enforce the follow on in an attempt to win the match by an innings.

Sri Lanka cap Thilan Samaraweera making a comeback dazzled with a superb 140 while Kaushal Silva and Krishal Magage provided the back up support. However Tamil Union were equal to the task as they were able to match the SSC total to a certain extent thanks to a brilliant century from Sajith Fernando.

The stylish opening batsman kept Tamil Union›s hopes of pulling off what would have been a remarkable triumph with former Sri Lanka under 19 cap Ashan Priyanjan and Gihan Rupasinghe supporting with useful half centuries. Bloomfield v Chilaw Marians SC Bloomfield had the satisfaction of collecting the maximum points while overcoming Chilaw Marians SC outright by seven wickets in their SLC Premier League Tier A tournament match worked off at Reid Avenue last week.

Bloomfield are well aware that they are out of the running for the title but this success will certainly help them a lot in securing at least the runners up position. Their victory was fashioned by two of their most experienced players Suraj Mohamed and Shanuka Dissanayake.

The former delivered a tantalizing spell of bowling to dismiss Chilaw Marians SC for 178 runs while the latter compiled a solid century that took Bloomfield pass the 350 run mark. In fact that massive first innings lead was quite sufficient for them to apply more pressure on the opposition during their second innings.

As a result Chilaw Marians SC folded up for 243 in their second attempt despite a fine effort from Suresh Niroshan who batted determinedly to delay Bloomfield›s victory. However Shanuka Dissanayake made his presence felt with the ball too and a near repeat performance from Suraj Mohamed helped Bloomfield to add the finishing touches.

Ragama CC v Army SC

Ragama CC also recorded a consolation 196 run outright victory over Sri Lanka Army SC in their SLC Premier League Tier A tournament match worked off at Maitland Crescent last week.

Ragama CC another team vying for the league runners up position took the initiative by piling up a commanding 350 in their first innings. This was mainly due to a superb century from Ian Daniel who showed a great amount of maturity in playing a dominant role.

Army SC in reply failed to put up a challenge and were dismissed for 168 in their first innings against some penetrative bowling from the spin trio of Ruwan Dilruk, Upul Indrasiri and Malinga Bandara.

Ragama CC who enjoyed a good first innings lead, then went on to extend their dominance by setting Army SC an improbable victory target of 404 runs. But they managed to score only 208 in their second innings with Dinesh Daminda producing a superb spell of bowling.

Moors SC v CCC

Moors SC put up a fine performance to beat the more fancied CCC team on the first innings in their SLC Premier League Tier A tournament match worked off at Braybrooke Place last week.

Moors SC of course went through some anxious moments and their formidable first innings total of 386 at one stage looked insufficient to pull off the game. This was mainly due to some excellent batting from the CCC top order comprising of Michael van Dort, D. K. Ranaweera and Bathiya Perera.

In fact had their two most consistent players van Dort and Ranaweera been able to convert their fifties into a three figure mark the final outcome would have been somewhat different. Both players were undone by a superb spell of bowling from all rounder Dilhara Lokuhettige who went on to complete a five wicket haul.

This game certainly turned out to be a memorable game for Lokuhettige who had earlier hammered a magnificent 142 that put Moors SC in the driving seat. The most significant fact about his batting was the manner in which he went about his task while collecting his runs from just 134 deliveries.