Report

Rain has final say in sixth round games

A round-up of the sixth round of matches in Tiers A and B of Sri Lanka's Premier League Tournament

Sa'adi Thawfeeq
11-Nov-2009

Tier A

The sixth weekend of matches of the Premier League Tier A competition took a beating, with bad weather forcing all six matches to end in draws. The result kept Nondescripts Cricket Club (NCC) on top of the table and there were hardly any changes in the positions from the previous weekend. The exception was that of the wooden spoon position, where Colombo Cricket Club lifted themselves from the bottom as Army Sports Club were unable to make any headway in their fixture against Moors Sports Club, with no play possible on the last two days at Braybrooke Place.
In the opening day at the NCC Ground, captain and Sri Lanka opener Upul Tharanga and former schoolboy cricketer Dinesh Chandimal continued their fine form for the season with contrasting half-centuries. Tharanga scored a 167-ball 95 and the more enterprising Chandimal faced just 75 balls for his 70 as NCC made 312 against a depleted SSC side where coach Avishka Gunawardene was forced to come out of retirement and play, after six cricketers departed to India with the national team.
Offspinner Sachitra Senanayake stepped up in their absence to return career-best figures of 8 for 117 after surprisingly opening the bowling. SSC struggled to 102 for 6 before bad light and rain came to their aid.
Another offspinner, Dilshan Wimaladarma, opened the bowling for Saracens Sports Club and also ended up with a five-wicket haul. Wimaladarma, who handed his team their first win of the season last weekend, continued his great form with the ball with figures of 5 for 106 against Chilaw Marians. Saracens couldn't make much headway against Marians' total of 305, sliding to 146 for 6 before the game ended. Play was possible only on the first day in the Moors Sports Club-Army Sports Club and Ragama Cricket Club-Badureliya matches.
Teams Mat Won LostTied Draw Aban Pts
Nondescripts Cricket Club 6 3 0 03 0 63.895
Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club 62 0 0 4 0 49.115
Badureliya Sports Club 6 2 2 02 0 48.005
Chilaw Marians Cricket Club 61 0 0 5 0 47.185
Sinhalese Sports Club 6 1 0 05 0 46.48
Ragama Cricket Club 60 1 0 5 0 40.585
Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club 6 1 1 04 0 37.2
Saracens Sports Club 61 1 0 4 0 36.84
Colts Cricket Club 6 1 1 04 0 28.92
Moors Sports Club 60 1 0 5 0 25.075
Colombo Cricket Club 6 0 1 05 0 15.13
Sri Lanka Army Sports Club 60 4 0 2 0 14.65

Tier B

Although the five Premier Tier B matches were also affected to some extent by the bad weather and also ended in draws, only two failed to produce first-innings points. One of them was the key clash between the top two teams, Lankan Cricket Club and Panadura Sports Club at Panadura. . Panadura made 187 for 4 before rain intervened, ruling out play for the rest of the game. Lankan CC maintained their 21-point lead at the top. Burgher Recreation Club, Air Force Sports Club and Police Sports Club obtained vital first-innings leads but could not make much of an impact on the standings.
Teams Mat Won LostTied Draw Aban Pts
Lankan Cricket Club 6 3 0 03 0 72.71
Panadura Sports Club 61 0 0 5 0 51.77
Burgher Recreation Club 6 1 0 05 0 46.735
Sri Lanka Navy Sports Club 51 0 0 4 0 45.9
Seeduwa Raddoluwa Cricket Club 5 1 0 04 0 43.26
Sri Lanka Air Force Sports Club 60 3 0 3 0 25.49
Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club 5 0 2 03 0 22.895
Singha Sports Club 31 1 0 1 0 21.865
Police Sports Club 5 0 1 04 0 21.65
Moratuwa Sports Club 50 1 0 4 0 20.415