Tamil Union take Premier - Tier ‘A’ limited over title

Chris Dhambarage

A fine all round performance from Jeevan Mendis helped Tamil Union to lift the SLC Premier Tier ‘A’ limited overs title defeating Chilaw Marians SC by 63 runs on the Duckworth and Lewis scoring method in the final worked off at the SSC grounds in Maitland Place yesterday.

Tamil Union hit up 234 from 49.4 overs after electing to bat first and then restricted Chilaw Marians SC to 143 for 8 from 36 overs when bad light halted play early.

Tamil Union’s success had a great amount of significance as they won a SLC Premier Title after more than a decade. They also went into this game under pressure after having lost to Chilaw Marians SC in their Premier League fixture during the weekend.

But this time they got their act together well and bounced back in style to outplay their opponents in all departments of the game. Even then Tamil Union were struggling to put up a decent score on the board at one stage after they had slumped to 160 for 6 mid way in the innings.

Right hander Jeevan Mendis walked in at a crucial stage of the innings and put on 50 runs for the seventh wicket along with Gihan de Silva who made a useful contribution of 22 runs under tremendous pressure. Mendis continued to frustrate the Chilaw Marians SC bowlers and went on to hit a top score of 94 from just 92 deliveries inclusive of one six and half a dozen of boundaries.

The two spinners Eranga (4 for 38) and Hettiarachchi (2 for 42) performed well to cause the early damage for Chilaw Marians SC who were very much in control of the situation before they suffered against the Mendis assault.

Chilaw Marians SC in reply lost wickets at regular intervals and none of their batsmen were able to settle down and build up a solid partnership.

The top order batsmen comprising Janaka Gunaratne, Amal Athulathmudali, Milinda Siriwardena and Ravi Karunaratne all made a good start but failed to consolidate their position. The spin trio of Sachithra Serasinghe, skipper Sajith Fernando and Jeevan Mendis really exploited the conditions to pick up key wickets at vital stages of the innings. In fact Mendis followed up his match winning knock of 94 by snapping up two wickets for 38 with his leg spinners.

Tamil Union: 234 in 49.4 overs (K. Gunawardena 30, S. Serasinghe 22, M. Pushpakumara 21, J. Mendis 94, G. de Silva 22, C. Eranga 4 for 38, D. Hettiarachchi 2 for 42).

Chilaw Marians SC: 143 for 8 in 36 overs (J. Gunaratne 35, A. Athulathmudali 21, M. Siriwardena 21, R. Karunaratne 22, S. Serasinghe 2 for 19, S. Fernando 3 for 36, J. Mendis 2 for 38).