Moors SC continued their roller-coaster ride in the Premier championships with their fourth successive victory (3 outright) in as many matches to pull ahead of their nearest rivals Bloomfield by almost 17 points.
In another thrilling encounter Moors repeated their one-wicket success of the previous weekend over BRC with a similar result against SSC last week.
Both matches went down to the wire and provided heart stopping finishes. By coming successfully out these two contests, Moors have proved they are made of steely stuff which should make other teams wary. The table leaders will face a stern test when they are involved in a top of the table clash with Bloomfield at Reid Avenue this weekend.
Moors' success could largely be attributed to the leadership qualities of ex-Sri Lanka and Tamil Union cricketer Chandika Hathurusingha. By leading from the front, Hathurusingha has moulded the team into a superb fighting unit. He top scored in both innings with 41 and 45 and also chipped in with three useful wickets in the SSC second innings.
The defending champs having conceded first innings points, tried to make a match of it by staging a spirited fightback in the second innings, but they were thwarted by the Moors' tail. They played themselves into winning positions twice, but it was not to be their day. On both occasions Moors fought back to wrest the initiative away - from 30 for 3 and again from 122 for 7.
Rangana Herath who performed well with the ball against BRC, displayed a cool head in a tight situation to steer Moors through with an undefeated 26. In this low scoring contest, SSC batsman Shantha Kalavitigoda's innings of 63 was the only score over fifty. Their fast-medium bowler Dilhara Fernando returned career best figures of 6 for 33 (match bag of 8).
In another low scoring game, Bloomfield took first innings points from Colts to keep a close trail on the table leaders. Bloomfield's chances of going for full points were spoilt when rain prevented any play on the first day. The match began on the second day and in the restricted time frame, Bloomfield did well enough to defend their moderate total of 166 superbly by dismissing Colts for a rather disappointing 106.
No batsmen made more than 46 from either side. Bloomfield's leg-spin cum pace combination of Priyankara Wickremasinghe and Pulasthi Gunaratne once again proved unplayable, the pair taking seven wickets between them.
The weekend also provided two shock results, when fancied teams CCC and Sebastianites both suffered defeats. BRC ended their barren run for the season by pulling off a stunning five wickets win over CCC.
Having conceded first innings points, BRC came storming back to successfully challenge the total of 187 set for an outright victory. Their match-winner was the hard hitting burly cricketer Duminda Perera. He batted with great flair to contribute more than fifty percent of his team's first innings total of 111 by making 61 and then figured prominently in the run chase by slamming four sixes and seven fours in a blazing knock of 75. It was Perera's liaison with Indika Batuwitarachchi (85) of 148 runs for the fifth wicket that turned the game on its head.
C. Mudalige and and former Moors cricketer Riyaz Farook played their part in keeping CCC to moderate totals with four wickets apiece in either innings, but the stellar roles were played by Duminda and Indika.
For CCC, lanky paceman Indika Gallage continued to impress with yet another good spell which fetched him figures of 6 for 37 in the first innings.
An opening partnership of 176 between Nishantha Munasinghe (84) and Senadi Malweewella (79) sustained by an equally good knock of 92 from Roshan Jaymon set up Kurunegala YCC's imposing total of 409 for 9 declared. Sebastianites who have the highest total of the season 462 for 6 to their credit, failed to produce anything close to that performance and were on the verge of forcing a no-decision when last man Chaminda Francis was dismissed in the final over of the match. Sebastianites totalled 256. Only in form opener T.M. Dilshan and all-rounder Marlon Peiris contributed anything of note making half-centuries apiece, the rest of the batting were consumed by the spin of Ranjit Madurasinghe and skipper Ajith Ekanayake.
Panadura SC were another team to come from behind and snatch an outright win after conceding first innings points. Panadura atoned for their dismal first innings batting performance (158 all out) by successfully chasing the target of 297 off 44 overs set by Galle CC.
That Panadura were able to score a runaway victory was primarily due to the batting of Sri Lanka under 19 poolist and junior World Cup cricketer Chamara Silva. He blazed away to the fastest century of the season off 88 balls making 60 of those runs in boundaries, and figured in two match-winning partnerships of 141 for the third wicket with Manjula Silva (62) and one of 76 for the fourth with skipper Kapila Silva (76) to see Panadura home with two balls to spare.
Galle CC had only the fine batting double (45 and 101 n.o.off 140 balls) of former CCC and Tamil Union left-hander Varuna Waragoda and the leg-spin bowling of Gamini Perera (5/38) to feel happy about.
NCC too (like BRC) ended their poor run, with a first innings points win over Tamil Union. This victory left Tamil Union, Matara SC and Police SC as the only three clubs without a single win this season.
Anil Rideegammanagedera, an useful all-rounder to have in any team played the stellar role in NCC's victory contributing a fine 88 and then following it up with an impressive spell of seam bowling to capture four wickets. He was well supported by former Sri Lanka all-rounder Ruwan Kalpage who also finished with a similar haul.
Mark Fernando's match bag of eight wickets proved fruitless as Antonians lost on the first innings to Singha SC in their match played at the Air Force grounds, Katunayake. For Singha it was there second win in successive weekends following their victory over Police a fortnight back.
Premier Championship Standings
The following are the Premier Championship standings at the completion of the fourth weekend of matches on Jan 24.
P WOR W1st LOR L1st ND Btng Bwlg Pts
Moors SC 4 3 1 0 0 0 6.390 6.7 57.090
Bloomfield 4 1 2 0 0 1 6.930 5.3 40.230
Panadura SC 4 1 1 0 1 1 8.790 4.8 33.590
SSC 4 0 2 1 1 0 8.265 7.4 31.665
Galle CC 4 1 1 1 0 1 5.555 6.0 31.555
Sebastianites 4 1 1 0 1 1 6.495 4.6 31.095
CCC 4 0 2 1 0 1 5.825 6.2 28.025
Kurunegala YCC 4 0 2 1 0 1 4.800 4.5 25.300
Singha SC 4 0 2 0 1 1 5.455 3.4 24.855
BRC 4 1 0 2 1 0 6.430 6.2 24.630
Antonian SC 4 1 0 1 1 1 5.880 4.6 22.480
NCC 4 0 1 1 1 1 6.490 4.6 19.090
Colts 4 0 1 0 2 1 5.200 5.3 18.500
Tamil Union 4 0 0 0 3 1 6.300 3.4 9.700
Matara SC 3 0 0 1 1 1 3.110 3.4 6.510
Police SC 3 0 0 0 2 1 3.225 2.3 5.525
(Subject to confirmation)
HIGHEST INDIVIDUAL INNINGS: 203 (n.o.) - Hemantha Wickremaratne, SSC v Tamil Union at Maitland Place on Jan. 10.
FASTEST CENTURY: 88 balls - Chamara Silva, Panadura SC v Galle CC at Panadura Stadium on Jan. 24.
BEST INNINGS ANALYSIS: 8/75 - Erik Upashantha, Colts v CCC at Maitland Place on Jan. 10.
BEST MATCH ANALYSIS: 11/108 - Rangana Herath, Moors SC v BRC at Havelock Park on Jan. 16.
HIGHEST INNINGS TOTAL: 462/6 decl. - Sebastianites v Singha SC at De Soysa Stadium on Jan. 9.
LOWEST INNINGS TOTAL: 88 - Antonian SC v Galle CC at Galle Stadium on Jan. 17.