Sunday Apr 05, 2026
Sunday Apr 05, 2026
Monday, 9 March 2026 03:21 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
The first weekend of matches in the Major Club 3-Day League Super Eights saw all four matches ending in first innings wins yesterday, with Colts grabbing the most points (12.975) from their drawn encounter against Moors SC at Surrey Village Grounds, Maggona.
Colts extended their first innings lead of 115 to 402 by declaring their second innings at 287-4. Former Thomian opener Ravindu Rasantha scored a sturdy 111 off 239 balls (11 fours, 1 six) and shared in stands of 133 with Sangeeth Cooray (54 off 121 balls, 3 fours) and 127 with Dinesh Chandimal (75 off 70 balls, 5 fours, 1 six). Moors SC, left with the tall task of chasing 403, finished on 162-4. Shehan Fernando made 57 of them off 92 balls (4 fours).
In their match against CCC at the Colts Grounds, NCC, having gained a slender first innings lead of 12, extended it to 362 by scoring 350-6 declared the second time around.
Niroshan Dickwella followed his first innings 58 with another half-century – 54 off 77 balls (5 fours, 1 six) putting on an opening stand of 92 with Lahiru Udara (45), but the most significant knock came from Kamil Mishara, who struck 5 fours and 3 sixes in his 123-ball 90. Ahan Wickramasinghe scored a quick 48 off 31 balls to go with his first innings century and skipper Sahan Arachchige contributed 38 in a stand of 95 with Mishara. CCC, left the tough task of chasing 363, finished on 124-3, with Kamindu Mendis making 62 off 43 balls (7 fours, 4 sixes).
BRC put up a much-improved display of batting in their second innings to deny Police SC the possibility of an outright win at the CCC Grounds.
Trailing by 232, BRC recovered from losing their first two wickets for 49 to post 384-7 and draw the match. A feature of the innings was a skipper’s knock of 152* (269 balls, 16 fours, 1 six) by Hashan Dumindu, who figured in a fifth wicket stand of 113 with Promod Maduwantha (50 off 107 balls, 8 fours). Samindu Fernando contributed 83 off 105 balls (10 fours, 3 sixes) at the top of the order. In Police SC’s first innings of 412, skipper Ashen Bandara scored 158 off 232 balls (18 fours, 2 sixes) and left-arm seamer Yasiru Rodrigo took 5/74 for BRC.
Defending champions Bloomfield had to concede first innings points to Ace Capital CC in their match concluded at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium.
Resuming at a promising 230-3 in reply to Ace Capital CC’s first innings of 436, Bloomfield lost their remaining seven wickets for the addition of 127 runs to be all out for 357. Overnight pair Janith Liyanage (136 off 146 balls, 17 fours, 2 sixes) and Tharindu Harshana (89 off 168 balls, 9 fours) carried their fourth wicket partnership to worth 199 before being separated. Once the stand was broken, the rest of the innings fell apart, with fast bowler Isitha Wijesundara taking 4/96. Ace Capital CC scored 203-6 in their second innings, with opener Pawantha Weerasinghe scoring 58 off 96 balls (7 fours) and leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay adding a further four wickets for match figures of 8/186.
