SLC Premier League Cricket Review:

Moors SC bounce back into recognition

Chris DHAMBARAGE

Moors Sports Club bounced back into recognition with a tremendous performance while recording their first outright victory in the SLC Premier League Tier A tournament. Last week they brought down Sri Lanka Army Sports Club by 73 runs with all rounder Rangana Herath leading the way.

The left arm spinner who has been recalled into the Sri Lanka team for the up coming test series against Bangladesh as a replacement for the injured Ajantha Mendis, justified his inclusion with a splendid bowling performance that earned him a matchbag of nine wickets.

Moors SC of course went through some anxious moments and their success was in the balance at one stage after they were skittled out for a modest 161 runs in the first innings.

But they were able to convert this total into a match winning one largely due to the efforts of Rangana Herath. His six wicket haul completely changed the game and Moors SC were able to snatch a close first innings lead of seven runs.

Herath then displayed his batting prowess too by stroking a solid half century in their second innings that helped them to set a challenging victory target to their opponents.

However Army SC failed to respond and they were dismissed for under two hundred runs for the second time in the match. Herath again did most of the damage with the back up support coming from Anil Rideegammanagedera, S. Vishwaranga and Nandika Ranjith.

Army SC of course took the initiative and looked set to create another major upset of the tournament. However their batsmen simply threw away a great opportunity of taking a first innings lead after the bowlers had performed all the hard work

Colts CC v CCC

Colts CC came out with a pleasing performance to beat CCC outright by an innings and 31 runs in their SLC Premier League Tier A tournament match worked off at Maitland Crescent during the weekend.

This was another fantastic effort from the Havelock Park team where their batsmen and the bowlers combined well to complete their second outright victory of the tournament. Even then this was quite unique because they were able to demolish the opposition while completely dominating the proceedings on all three days.

In fact they were very much in control of the game from the start where Angelo Mathews stole the limelight by stroking a magnificent 168.

The dynamic all rounder played the sheet anchor role and almost carried his bat until the end before Colts CC declared their first innings at a formidable 379.

CCC of course had the batting with them to counter attack having successfully defeated Baduraliya CC outright in their previous outing at the same venue. This time however they were up against some quality bowlers and folded up for a disappointing 133 runs.

Seamer Nuwan Kulasekera ran through the star studded CCC batting line up with a hostile spell of bowling and tormented the opposition in the second innings too to finish with a match haul of nine wickets.

CCC did provide some stiff resistance in their second attempt through opener D. K. Ranaweera and all rounder Sachith Pathirana. But by that time they were completely demoralized and were fighting a losing battle with Sajeewa Weerakoon adding the finishing touches.

Tamil Union v Baduraliya CC

Tamil Union missed out a golden opportunity of registering their first outright victory during their SLC Premier League Tier A tournament match against Baduraliya CC on their home grounds at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium last week.

They were so close yet so far as they fell short by just three wickets from dismissing the opposition for the second time in the match. They will be regretting for not having declared their second innings much earlier than they did as they ran out of time and overs with Baduraliya CC finishing on 233 for 7.

Tamil Union probably occupied the crease for too long in their second innings as they wanted to ensure that their opponents never had the chance of even getting closer towards their target.

Opener Sajith Fernando came closer of scoring twin fifties and there were also good contributions from Jeewan Mendis, Gihan Rupasinghe, Ashan Priyanjan and Muthumudalige Pushpakumara. However the Tamil Union bowling did not look all that impressive with only skipper Pushpakumara been able to make an impact in both innings. As a result Buduraliya CC were able to bat more convincingly and save the game after they had made 203 in the first innings.

Amila Ratnayake, Rasika Priyadarshana and Niroshan Bandaratilleke all rose to the occasion with fighting half centuries that enabled Baduraliya CC to finish on 233 for 7 in their second essay.

SSC v NCC

The defending champions SSC had the satisfaction of taking first innings points over their traditional rivals NCC in their key SLC Premier League Tier A tournament match worked off at Maitland Place during the weekend.

SSC went into this game under tremendous pressure after having lost their previous encounter against Bloomfield. However this time they stuck to their task and made their intentions quite clear from the beginning.

In fact there batting which has let them down on a couple of occasions this season came back magnificently and were able to post a total of exceeding three hundred runs.

The return of Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena certainly provided them that extra confidence and the rest of the bating rallied around him to put up a match winning total.

However the initial damage was done by their bowlers by dismissing the opposition for under two hundred runs in the first innings. This was a splendid effort from SSC considering the fact that the NCC batsmen have been in excellent form in their last couple of games.

This time NCC were really up against it as they found the SSC bowlers more difficult to get away with Sachithra Senanayake leading from the front. His six wicket haul completely destroyed the NCC batting and that certainly opened the gates for a convincing victory.

Chilaw Marians SC v Ragama CC

Ragama CC continued with their outstanding form this season with a good first innings victory over Chilaw Marians SC in their SLC Premier League Tier A tournament match worked off at Braybrooke Place last week.

This game had a great amount of significance because they are the two only outstation teams competing in this tournament and they also share many common things between each other.

In fact the two teams practice and train at the same venue due to the fact that both are without a ground of their own.

However they have been able to produce a number of outstanding payers over the years ever since their entry into the Premier League tournament. This time Ragama CC took the honours with an easy first innings victory that would further boost their chances of winning the title.

Chilaw Marians SC managed to score only 204 runs in their first innings with Kaushalya Weeraratne and Malinga Bandara doing most of the damage. This was followed up by a well compiled century from former Sri Lanka under-19 player Harsha Vithana as Ragama CC went on to score over three hundred runs in reply.

Chilaw Marians SC however made some amends for their first innings failure by rattling up 281 for 7 in their second essay. Sri Lanka discard Mahela Udawatte grabbed the opportunity to score a solid century after the dashing opener was left out from the squad for the forthcoming series against Bangladesh.