Major Clubs Limited Over Tournament

[The Professor]

With the Major Clubs T20 tournament now complete and in the hands of the Sri Lankan Army, it is time to go all over again for the 50 Over tournament.

Colts, who reached the quarter finals, of the T20 tournament have come straight out the traps equally as strongly. They chased down a meagre target of 153 set by Nondescripts in just 28.2 overs for a huge NRR boost to start with. On the other side of the group, the Sri Lankan Army continued their fine spell of white ball form and top the group early doors thanks to a 129 run over Kurunegala which propels them to the top of the table.

In terms of individual honours, Kasun Vidura – who only got above 50 once for for Chilaw in the T20 competition showed them what they were missing as he racked up 129 runs in their victory against Negombo. The victory was not as comfortable as it could have been as Negombo always seemed capable of chasing down 292 but fell 29 runs short in the end.

In terms of bowling success it is Lahiru Diyantha who, again showed good form in the 50 over game after a relatively low key T20 tournament. He got more wickets today than he did in the whole of the T20 leg combined with 5-24 for the Police Sports Club. Lamentably it did not mean that the Police prevailed, instead their batters fell to a limp chase of 100 – 97 runs short of their target.

Matches continue on Wednesday

[sussexpob]

Considering the problems going on in SL, I am surprised tournaments like this are going ahead. I read this morning the government have banned things like petrol being sold, so how the teams are able to travel is a bit of a mystery.

[The Professor]

The last week has seen all teams play out a further three games to take their total to 4 over the course of the tournament and yet again it is the Sri Lankan Army who continue to impress. They are, yet again, unbeaten thus far in the group stage and have the two largest margins of victory – they opened the tournament with a 129 run win against Kurunegala and followed that up with a 176 run win against Nugegoda today.

Equally as dominant on an individual level is Chilaw’s Kasun Vidura who scored his second century of the tournament on Friday, following up on his 129 from the opening day. This takes his total up to 356 for the tournament, 129 more than anyone else.

In terms of bowling success, Ashan Priyanjan got the best bowling figures of the tournament as he registered 6-30 in Colts’ victory against the Sri Lankan Navy today. This sees him catapulted to 8th place on the overall wicket keepers list that is topped by Burgher’s Duvindu Tillakaratne.

Games continue on Tuesday.

[The Professor]

Considering the problems going on in SL, I am surprised tournaments like this are going ahead. I read this morning the government have banned things like petrol being sold, so how the teams are able to travel is a bit of a mystery.

I think there was some issues with protestors at the Australia Test

[The Professor]

The most eye-catching fixture in this round of fixtures came as Sinhalese embarrassed Kalutara. Electing to bat first, Sinhalese put on the highest team total of the tournament so far with 331 runs scored for the loss of just 4 batters. Even though the batters clearly excelled, it was a bowler who produced the most electric performance. Prabath Jayasuriya has had a below par tournament so far but came out the blocks and got the highest match figures thus far – 7-17. His prolific wicket taking saw Kalutara all out for 102, handing Sinhalese a 229 run victory – the largest of the tournament so far.

Elsewhere, Tillakaratne Sampath scored the tournaments’ third highest total as Burgher beat Chilaw with 8 overs training. A late innings slump could not derail Burgher as the captain’s 106 run 120 meant they were well on their way by the time he lost his wicket with 182 on the board. There has been no change in terms of highest run scorers and highest wicket takers – however both men didn’t have their greatest matches in the game. Kasun Vidura added just 17 runs to his total in the Burrgher v Chilaw game whilst Duvindu Tillakaratne got a solitary wicket.

Games are now drip-fed throughout the next few days, rather than in these big blocks.

[The Professor]

There were two games in this tournament today that both provided up some interesting performances.

Table-topping Moors won yet another game against Colts. The margin of victory was rather emphatic as they ran out 123 run victors – the 6th highest margin of victory. It was largely down to a 96 run haul from Pasindu Sooriyabandara who scored the 12th highest score of the tournament and shot up the run scoring table to 4th overall. After putting on 293 in their 50, Moors then went too slow and then too riskily to end up without any further batters in the hutch with 50 overs left to go.

In the other game, Kandy beat resident whipping boys the Sri Lankan Navy. When Kandy were all out for 117, the Navy would have thought they were going to be able to hoist their flag to mark their first win – however they melted away to a 14 run loss. Ayesh Harshana hit them the hardest with figures of 4-21.

[The Professor]

Another full round of Sri Lankan domestic cricket was played out today with a number of eye-catching results.
The most eye-catching game took place at Moratuwa where 6th placed Ragama absolutely destroyed second to bottom placed Nugegoda – largely thanks to the tournament’s largest individual total scored by Nishan Madushka. The ex-Sri Lanka Under 19 player scored 165 of Ragama’s 339-6 before the bowlers got to work and first strangled Nugegoda before knocking them all out with 8 overs left and a deficit of 156 runs. Madushka’s innings broke the Kasun Vidura stranglehold at the top of the highest totals; however, he still thunders on in terms of total runs scored thanks to another half-century today against Panadura. He now has 446 runs @ 89.20 – 120 more than anyone else.
12 miles up the coast, Sinhalese won a narrow one against Moors despite having only scored 120 in the first knock. Sinhalese have a lot to thank Sasika Dilshan for as his figures of 7-2-28-2 were influential in getting Moors out for just over a hundred runs. It is the tournament’s second 7-fer – and both have been by Sinhalese bowlers.
The tournament’s highest wicket-taker Duvindu Tillakaratne continued to impress as he got 3-42. On only 2 occasions has he failed to get fewer than three wickets in this competition so far.

There is an anomalous single game tomorrow with the next large round of fixtures on Sunday

[The Professor]

If this tournament is catching the eye of the national selectors, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Ashan Priyanjan could put his name in the frame for a national call-up. He last turned out in national colours in 2017 but is tearing up this tournament. He registered his second 6-fer of the tournament today as Colombo beat Negombo by 7 wicket with 157 balls remaining. Priyanjan was the major reason why Negombo were all out for a mere 132 runs. This takes his tournament total to 25 @ 6.00.
It has been a chaotic week for Negombo. Prior to their big loss today, they registered an equally impressive win in Sunday’s round of games. After putting on 242-8 in their 50 overs, they shot down the Sri Lankan Air Service for a paltry 73. It is the 4th largest margin of victory in terms of runs in the competition. Notable other results in this tranche of games are Colts 9 wicket win against Nugegoda where they needed just 19 overs to chase down 151 and Moors bowling Badureliya for a mere 88.

Away from humiliations, Gitansh Kera got the tournament’s highest score in Police Sports Clubs 153 run win over Lankan. Gitnash registered 167 runs in 133 balls. The runs were much needed as he came in with his team on 11-2 but his second handed effort saw the Police put on 298. It has been a tawdry spell of games for the tournament’s highest run scorer, Kasun Vidra, who has scored 10 runs in the last 2 games. He still manages to hold on to top spot but has 2 players who have just breached 400 runs who are going to push him hard unless his form changes.

[The Professor]

Today saw some of the biggest individual performances of the tournament so far.

First off with the bat, Sahan Kosala attempted to pull off a last minute rescue mission. Coming in at 49-5, the wicketkeeper batter who turned 20 yesterday, scored 133 off 106 to drag the Sri Lankan Navy up to 270-7. Despite this heroic effort Negombo managed to pull themselves up to the total with 2 overs to spare and narrow the gap on the Navy to a single point in Group B. Kasun Vidura has gone back to his big scoring ways with 86 against lowly Nugegoda on Saturday and continue his reign as highest run scorer.

Elsewhere, Inshaka Siriwardene registered the third best bowling figures of the tournament as Kalutara beat Nondescripts by 60 runs. Batting first, Kalutara put on 178 before Siriwardene’s 6-19 humbled Nondescripts to a mere 118. The win marks Kalutara’s first victory of the season after 8 straight losses. Ashan Priyanjan continues is dominance as the most effective bowler with another 4 wickets over the last two matches.

Honoruable mention goes to Tamil Union for their huge win over Badureliya on Sunday. After batting first and putting on 280 in their 50 overs, Badureliya were all out for just 82. The 198 run victory was the second most significant by runs and saw Tamil Union overtake Sinhalese and move into qualification places in Group B.

[The Professor]

After winning their first game of the tournament last time out, Kalutara Town got absolutely humbled by Ace Capital. After being put it into bat first, Kalutara were all out for, the comically pleasingly but disappointingly lowly, score of 69. Ace polished this off in 13.1 overs to extend their lead in second on Tamil Union. Ace’s Nimasara Atharagalla continued his decent spell of form with figures of 5-27 after getting 4 wickets in his last match.




In terms of other wicket-takers, Prianjan stays top of the highest wicket takers – but has also remembered how to bat. He has bagged 186 runs in his last 3 games for Colts.



Akshdeep Nath scored the 20th century of the tournament as his 137 runs helped lift Sebastianites to 285, a score that Lankan couldn’t get anywhere near despite the fact that rain intervened. Sebastianites are on a decent run despite winning only 1 of their first 7 games, they have since won 3 of the last 4 and move into 7th.



Elsewhere, Kasun Vidura continued his reign of terror as he scored yet another half century to take his total to 612 @ 68 for Chliaw.

[The Professor]

We only have one more round of games before we move into the semi-finals and the final next weekend. Group B is pretty much sewen up with Colombo and the Sri Lankan Army home and hosed. Group A is a little more open, but it is very likely that it will be Ace Capital and Tamil Union who progress.

Sri Lanka Army underlined their dominance with a crushing win over their airborne cousins. After batting first the Army got 185 – which seemed a little below par. However they shot out the Sri Lankan Air Force for a mere 76.
Sinhalese are still just about in the hunt in Group A but really left it too late. Despite ending their season with 4 wins in a row they are unlikely to progress. Today it was Nipun Dananjaya who got 127* to help them beat Badureliya in their final game of the season.
It was also the last game for Burgher who fail to qualify despite boasting, in the form of Kasun Vidura, the highest run scorer in the tournament. He ends on 631 runs. The next highest run scorer who is likely to progress is the Army’s Lakshan Edirisinghe who is 183 off the pace.
It’s all change in terms of wicket taking records this round. The best figures of the tournament record has stood for the last fortnight but Sachithra Senanayaka snatched it away at the end by bagging 8-27 in Sri Lanka Navy’s win over Panadura. Also Ashan Priyanjan’s iron grip on boasting the most wickets in the tournament has slipped at the last as Duvindu Tillakaratne ended his season with a pair of 3-fers and a four-fer. This takes him two wickets over the Colombo player – however Priyanjan has at least two more games to play.

[The Professor]

The group stages of the Sri Lankan Major Clubs Limited over Tournament is over and it is now confirmed that Tamil Union will play Colombo on Saturday with the Sri Lankan Army facing off against Ace Capital.

The Sri Lankan Army underlined their credentials as hot favourites for the trophy as they beat 11th placed Negombo by 5 wickets. They onled needed 11.5 overs to chase down the 133 set for them by Negombo who have had a disappointing campaign.

Elsewhere, Nishan Fernando became the third player to have scored two centuries in the competition as 5th placed Ragama beat Kandy Customs by 119 runs. Kandy Customs were all out for just 97 as they chased down the Nishan-guided Ragama total of 216. Despite the mauling, Kandy Customs will be pleased overall with their position which has seen them finish two places higher than last time. In contrast, Ragama finished second place last season but are a long long way off the pace this time out.

Tamil Union finished on top of Group A thanks to a comprehensive victory over Bloomfield. Navod Paranavithana amazing figures of 2.5-0-8-6 saw him raze Bloomfield all out for 79. A very easy chase for the table-toppers. The wheels have really come off Bloomfield as they slump from a 5th placed finish last year to finish in 9th this time out.

The round robin stage finishes with Burgher’s Duvindu Tillakaratne as the highest wicket taker with 36 whilst Chilaw Mariams’ Kasun Vidura’s 631 makes him the highest run scorer.

[The Professor]

Only one of the two Semi-finals was completed today as one game was abandoned after 6 overs due to an ‘unsafe pitch’. Despite my best efforts I do not know what this means exactly however it seems rectifiable as they are re-starting the second game there tomorrow. What it does mean is that whoever wins out of Tamil Union and Colombo will have to play the final less than 24 hours later, whilst Sri Lanka Army will be fresh.
For it was Sri Lanka Army who prevailed in the other match, conquering Ace Capital convincingly thanks to an all-round performance from Seekkuge Prasanna. First he put on 89 of the 246 runs that the Army made in their first innings, before returning figures of 4-26 as Ace were all out for 123 after slightly over half of their allocated overs.

[The Professor]

The rescheduled match was played out to completion after yesterday’s abandonment. The game was marked by a slew of international players returning from their test match victory against Pakistan to the more parochial nature of domestic One Day cricket.

Probably the most effective was Wasindu Hasaranga, who was one of the few players to join straight up with Colombo after that test match. He spread 6 wickets across those last 3 group games but then got 4 important wickets for 37 runs today as Tamil Union were all out for 238 – an underwhelming total.
Colombo did not start the chase brightly with a wicket off the second ball. They lost wickets regularly from there. They were in the hunt throughout the early overs but the loss of two quick wickets in the 15th and 16th overs meant that the asking rate was always drifting away.

Tamil Union, who topped their group, go on to play Sri Lanka Army, who topped theirs, in the final tomorrow.

[The Professor]

Final of this is on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDA-3IMyOKk