NCC right-arm off spinner and Moors skipper Shehan Jayasuriya produced exceptional all-round individual performances as the penultimate week matches of the SLC under 23 division 1 tournament got underway on Thursday with NCC taking on CCC while the other five matches commenced on Friday.
Group A table leaders NCC registered a vital first innings win over CCC after two days of play as spinner Tharindu Kaushal ripped through the visitor’s batting line up with yet another fine bowling performance on day 2. Home team, NCC battled their way to a commendable score of 279 runs on day 1 thanks to half-centuries from Lahiru Udara (56) and Tharindu Kaushal (55). One drop batsman Pavan Devinda and opener William Bosisto chipped in with 45 & 35 runs respectively. Left arm chinaman spinner Lakshan Rangika captured 5 scalps while experienced Chathuranga Kumara grabbed 3 wickets.
Chasing 280 runs to win on first innings, CCC struggled to the effective off-spin of Tharindu Kaushal as the visiting team was bowled out for 174 runs with opener Janindu Isharka top scoring with 29 runs. Tharindu bowled 24 overs to claim his 7 wickets conceding 57 runs while skipper Sandun Weerakkody captured 2 wickets. NCC in their 2nd innings was 81 for 1 wicket in 14.3 overs when heavy rains put an end to the 2nd day’s play. William Bosisto (36) and Pavan Devinda (32) remained unbeaten for the hosts.
Upcoming all-rounder Shehan Jayasuriya once again sent a strong notice to the national selectors with another outstanding all-round performance as Moors took control of their game against Army SC at Braybrooke place.
Shehan’s canny off-spinners proved too strong for the Soldiers as they were bundled out for 167 in the 50th over with the Moors skipper producing a stunning spell of 7 for 58. Opening batsman Ramindu Nikeshala was the only player to make an impression with the bat for Army SC as he made 60 runs with a strike rate of 50. Moors in their reply were off to a flying start as their skipper Jayasuriya punished the Army bowlers to all parts of the ground as he made a 51-ball 56 runs to take his team total to 95 runs for the loss of one wicket when bad light stopped play early with only 66 overs completed in the opening day.
Only 3 balls were possible in Kadirana as persistent rains hampered the proceedings of the Negombo CC vs Ragama CC encounter.
Close to 90 overs were bowled at the Colts CC vs Moratuwa SC encounter at De Soysa Stadium Moratuwa as the visitors took control in a crucial relegation battle game. Right arm seamer Hasitha Fernando captured 5 wickets for Colts as they restricted the hosts to only 230 runs in their 1st innings. Shanuka Dulaj excelled with the bat scoring 89 runs. Colts opener Sadeera Samarawickrama scored 52 unbeaten runs as the visitors were 118 for the loss of only 2 wickets when the heavy showers stopped play early.
Thirty eight overs were bowled by Air Force SC to the Bloomfield batsmen who scored only 97 runs for the loss of 5 wickets at Katunayake as heavy rains disrupted yet another interesting relegation battle game with Bloomfield C & AC almost certain of being demoted to the 2nd division next year if they fail to win both their last games on outright. Left handed Rukshan Weerasinghe scored 60 runs for the visitors while Dushan Vimukthi captured 2 more wickets to his overall tally of 28 wickets for the season before the start of this game.
Monsoon rains of August hit Welisara as only 45 overs were possible on day 1 of the Navy vs Tamil Union encounter. Hosts, Navy was sent into bat after a delayed start. The sailors batted sensibly to post 191 runs for the loss 4 wickets when the days play was called off early due to rain around 3.30pm. Lahiru Jayakody remained unbeaten on 69 runs while Sameera Sandamal contributed with 43 runs for Navy SC. Skipper Pulina Tharanga scalped 2 wickets.
All 6 games will be continued on Saturday with more rains expected.
