The left-hand batter Kamindu Mendis stroked a century, leading Colombo Cricket Club’s strong response with the bat against Tamil Union Cricket & Athletic Club on day three of the Final of the SLC Major League Tournament, played today (19th November) at SSC Grounds in Colombo.
Colombo Cricket Club resumed day thee at 149/2 with the overnight batters Minod Bhanuka (72*) and Kamindu Mendis (31*) remaining unbeaten at the crease. However, their partnership did not last long on day three as Bhanuka was stumped of the bowling off Ravindu Fernando for 75 runs, breaking a vital 83-run stand for the 3rd wicket.
Mendis then built another crucial partnership with Lasith Abeyratne as the duo added 108 runs off 179 balls for the 4th wicket. Mendis, one of the top run-getters of the tournament, continued his purple patch, scoring another brilliant century for CCC. Mendis led CCC’s fightback with the bat, scoring 105 runs off 149 balls with 16 fours.
After the departure of Mendis, Tamil Union may have felt that that would be the end of the resistance from the CCC batters, but it was not to be the case as the Skipper Ashan Priyanjan and all-rounder Chamindu Wijesinghe showed excellent fighting spirits, putting on an unbeaten 123-run stand for the 6th wicket.
Wijesinghe’s 71-run knock came off 139 balls including 8 fours, while Priyanjan contributed with 52 runs off 111 balls with 5 fours as CCC ended third day’s play at 411/5 trailing by 147 runs with 5 wickets in hand. The off-spinner Ravindu Fernando was the pick of the bowlers for Tamil Union as he snared 3 wickets for 81 runs.
Brief Scores
Tamil Union Cricket & Athletic Club – 558 (135.2) Sadeera Samarawickrama 188, Isuru Udana 88, Navod Paranavithana 54, Ron Chandraguptha 48, Kavindu Pathirathne 46, Ravindu Fernando 45, Dilum Sudeera 32, Vishwa Fernando 4/102, Lakshan Sandakan 4/128
Colombo Cricket Club – 411/5 (107) Kamindu Mendis 105, Minod Bhanuka 75, Chamindu Wijesinghe 71*, Ashan Priyanjan 52*, Lasith Abeyratne 48, Nimesha Gunasingha 33, Ravindu Fernando 3/81
Stumps – Day 3
 at SSC Grounds in Colombo.){kind=link}