The Sri Lanka Cricket conducted inter-club under 23 division 1 cricket tournament was won by one of the most prestigious clubs in Sri Lanka, Sinhalese Sports Club. We took a closer look at the success story of the players and championship winning team.
Formidable yet young side led by leg-spinning batting all-rounder Sanka Ramesh remained unbeaten throughout the season claiming 4 outright wins in 6 matches during the group stage and won the trophy beating the strong NCC team on first innings in the final.
SSC was demoted to the division 2 after a horrendous campaign in 2012 and since then they have grown in confidence and determination to rise from the ashes like a phoenix. SSC under 23 team won the division 2 title in 2013 and was promoted to the top category once again to play with the best clubs in 2014.
Road to Success
SSC got off to a brilliant start when they trounced Ragama CC by 10 wickets in the opening game. Second game against Bloomfield C & AC was a low-scoring affair which ended as a drawn game though SSC won the game on first innings. All-round contributions by all the players paved the way for SSC in the 3rd game of the league when they easily brushed aside Navy SC by an innings and 53 runs.
A week later, Air Force SC was brought down to earth by SSC as they won the game by 7 wickets. Rain-hit the 5th match of the season against Negombo CC was won by SSC on first innings while they brutally defeated the defending champions Tamil Union C & AC in the final game of the group stage by 174 runs..
Inspirational Coach
SSC’s main man behind the success is their head coach Kapila Weerasinghe. He was the assistant coach at SSC for over 4 years before he was assigned as the head coach. Kapila is a former Thurstanite and has played domestic cricket for SSC and in an exclusive interview he expressed his thoughts on how they won the championship – “I’m really joyous in our performances this year as from the beginning we thought of somehow winning the trophy after our demotion in 2012. No player scored a century until the finals where both our Ramesh’s got centuries. We played every game as a unit and another aspect to our success is our fielding which got better match by match with our fielding coach Vimukthi Deshappriya doing a fantastic job. We gave the chance to perform to as many as 19 players which is another factor why people would love to play for SSC. “
True Leader
SSC under 23 squad consisted many all-rounders but their skipper Sanka Ramesh led his by example ending the season as their leading run-getter and the leading wicket-taker. Sanka scored 490 runs in 7 games with a match-winning century in the final and he finished as the 6th highest in the overall batting list of the tournament. 22-year old leg spinner captured 21 wickets to lead his bowling attack as well. Sanka’s leadership qualities were prominently displayed during tough situations where he took his team out of danger many times as he did in the final.
Speaking to www.thepapare.com, Samantha Dodanwela, Chairman of SSC Cricket praised the players for their club’s triumph “First of all, I’m extremely proud that we won the championship with a young side and all the players have to be commended as they did not leave the club after we were demoted to the division 2, because they wanted to promote the club without changing the club. The club is grateful to our sponsors – Etisalat and Kandurata Umbrellas, as their funding helped us to accommodate and nurture the outstation players. “
Key Players
Apart of Sanka Ramesh’s all-round efforts, vice-captain Dasun Shanaka too proved worthwhile for their team as he scored over 360 runs in 7 games with 2 half-centuries and his runs came in an impressive strike rate of 83.30 while the right arm seamer captured 14 wickets as well. The opening bowling pair of Binura Fernando and Kasun Madusanka threatened many batsmen as they scalped 16 wickets each.
Sri Lanka under 19 capped Minod Bhanuka and Kavindu Kulasekara performed with the bat for their club as they scored over 650 runs between them. Opening batsman and the team’s stumper Vishwa Wijeratne scored over 300 runs with 2 half-tons and collected 25 victims behind the stumps. Spin duo of Ramesh Mendis and Lakshan Jayasinghe did not enjoy much success though they played pivotal roles in keeping the run flow under control. Ramesh Mendis proved his all-round abilities when he was involved in a brilliant 215-run partnership with his skipper in the final to win the game for SSC.
Full Squad
Sanka Ramesh – Captain
Dasun Shanaka – Vice-Captain
Kasun Madusanka
Kavindu Kulasekara
Vishwa Wijerathne
Binura Fernando
Ramindu Kumarasinghe
Minod Bhanuka
Pathum Madusanka
Pasindu Madushan
Chamika Karunarathne
Harith Maduwantha
Kavinda De Thissera
Shasheen Fernando
Ranga Karunaratne
Nuwan Thushara
Praveen Fernando
