Former Richmondite and current Ragama under 23 Captain Dhananjaya De Silva slammed a brilliant double-ton on day 1 against Bloomfield at Moors grounds as the 5th week matches of the SLC under 23 division 1 tournament commenced on Friday.
Dhananjaya started his dream day winning the toss and made no errors with his leather bat as he pummeled the Bloomfield bowling all around the ground in an awesome batting display of 227 runs in 218 balls with 31 fours and 4 sixes. This was the 2nd double-ton of the tournament and incidentally both double-tons were scored at the same venue. Ragama dominated day 1 as they made 418 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 90 overs. 18-year old Shiran Rathnayake was unbeaten on 80 while his elder brother, Eranga Rathnayake stroked 46 runs. In an unsatisfactory day for Bloomfield bowlers, Thomian Tharindu Rathnayake captured 3 wickets.
Pawan Devinda bludgeoned a masterful century for NCC as the hosts took full control of the game against Army SC. The Soldiers lost the plot when they decided to field first on a placid surface at NCC. Pawan Devinda accumulated runs in a skillful manner as he faced 232 balls for his innings of 182 runs. Opening batsman, Lahiru Udara scored 86 runs at the top of the order as the host team NCC posted 400 runs and declared their innings. Army had to face 7 overs before the close of play and they lost one wicket with only 8 runs on the board.
23 wickets fell on day 1 at Welisara as bowlers from either team of Navy SC and Air Force SC conquered proceedings. Navy won the toss and elected to bat first but managed only 134 runs batting only 38.3 overs. Sameera Sandamal excelled once again with the bat scoring a valuable half-century. Spin-twins Dushan Vimukthi and Malith Mahela shared 7 wickets amongst them for Air Force SC. In their reply, Airmen were blown apart by Yohan Soysa and Akash Senarathne as the spin-duo captured 4 wickets each to dismiss the visitors to only 115 runs. Thuppahi Nadeera made 40 runs with his bat. Navy started their 2nd innings with a slight lead of 19 runs but added only 67 runs for the loss of 3 wickets as a horrid day for the batsmen ended.
Sri Lanka youth player Hashan Dumindu hammered a fluent century for Colombo Cricket Club as they made Colts Cricket Club toil hard on day 1 at Havelock Town. After being sent into bat first, the visitors performed exceptionally well with the willow as they posted a commendable 364 runs all out in 89 overs. Opener Hashan’s 190-ball 108 laid the foundation for CCC as he was involved in two hundred run partnerships with Lasitha Abeyrathne and Maduka Liyanapathirange. Lasitha made 66 while skipper Maduka scored 79 runs. Left-arm spinner Charith Sudaraka excelled with the ball grabbing 3 wickets.
Sri Lanka Ports Authority Cricket Club took major honours on day 1 in their game against Moratuwa SC as Anuk De Alwis and Aravinda Premarathne helped the host’s edge close to a first innings win at CCC grounds. SLPACC won the toss of coin and elected to bat first. Left arm spinners, Thenuka Dananjaya and Sahan Nanayakkara troubled the hosts as they were restricted to 187 runs with Anuk De Alwis scoring 89 runs in a rear-guard effort. Moratuwa lost wickets at regular intervals to put themselves in a spot of bother at 105 runs for 9 wickets with Anthonian off-spinner Aravinda Premarathne scalping 6 wickets. Peterite middle-order batsman Sachin Dalpathadu remained unbeaten on 39.
Table leaders, SSC worked hard for their runs at Bloomfield grounds as they made 280 runs in their 1st innings against Negombo CC. Dasun Shanaka was by far the best batsman for SSC playing their home game at Bloomfield grounds due to the Sri Lanka vs South Africa 2nd Test being played at SSC. Dasun stroked 71 runs in no time while Kavindu Kulasekara steadily scored 61 runs. Minod Bhanuka chipped in with 45 runs as spin combo of Shehan Madusanka and Malshan Gunasinghe took 3 wickets each for the visitors. Negombo top order had to face a stiff evening burst from the SSC bowlers and they coped up well to score 31 runs for the loss of only 1 wicket in 16 overs.
All 6 matches will be continued for day 2 tomorrow.
