Vandersay (6/66) bowls Bloomfield to final

Jeffrey Vandersay celebrates his six-wicket haul after bowling Bloomfield to victory

Wanuja Sahan was the architect of Ace Capital CC’s win with 70*

• Meet NCC for plum of inter-club cricket – SLC Major Club 3-Day 
• Negombo CC, Ragama CC relegated from Group A

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka’s right-arm leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay took six wickets for 66 to bowl Bloomfield to an innings-and-47-runs win against Badureliya SC at the Bloomfield grounds yesterday, cementing his club’s place in the SLC Major Club 3-Day Tournament final.

Bloomfield will meet NCC in the four-day final, starting 5 March at the R. Premadasa Cricket Stadium.

Bloomfield’s win, which was their fourth outright this season, saw them top Group A ahead of their nearest rivals Colts, who managed only a first innings points win over Chilaw Marians CC at Colts grounds which was not sufficient for them to topple the group leader.

Badureliya SC, trailing Bloomfield in the first innings by a massive 278 runs, resumed at 128-4, needing a further 150 runs to make Bloomfield bat again, but succumbed to Vandersay’s wily spin, being dismissed for 231 to lose by an innings. A lot depended on the overnight pair Gihan Koralage and Geeth Kumara, but once off-spinner Ravindu Fernando made a double strike by dismissing Kumara (49) and Chanaka Ruwansiri (0) off successive deliveries, the flood gates were open for Vandersay to wade through the rest of the batting, ending the innings by picking up the last two wickets off successive deliveries. Koralage was left unbeaten on 69 (87 balls, 7 fours, 2 sixes). Fernando enjoyed a good all-round game, scoring 114* and capturing six wickets. 

Colts, who were at one time in danger of conceding first innings points when they were seven down for 197 in reply to Chilaw Marians CC’s 210, were greatly in debt to Dhananjaya Lakshan (84 off 111 balls, 6 fours, 3 sixes) and Kavishka Anjula (39*) who added a valuable 42 for the eighth wicket to give Colts a lead of 64 in the first innings. Chilaw Marians CC in their second innings put up a better batting performance, scoring 229-7 with left-handed opener Vishva Chaturanga scoring a run-a-ball 118 (15 fours, 2 sixes) when bad light ended play forcing a draw.

The battle between the two wooden spoonists from Group A – Negombo CC and Ragama CC – ended in a tame draw at Surrey Village, Maggona, with rain and bad light taking the upper hand. In reply to Negombo CC’s first innings of 246-8 declared, Ragama CC made 174-6 when rain brought an early end to the match before tea on the third and final day. Ragama CC skipper Janith Liyanage made 50 and Gaviru Senhas, the former DS Senanayake batter, a career-best 49 in his third first-class match. Off-spinner Kalhara Senarathne took 5/86 for Ragama CC and left-arm spinner Danushka Sandaruwan 5/32 for Negombo CC. Both clubs will be demoted to Tier B next season.

The fourth match, which had no great bearing in the group standings, saw Ace Capital CC recover from their overnight 152-6 to score 268 and gain a narrow first innings lead of 19 over Panadura SC at the Police grounds. Wanuja Sahan, the former Sri Lanka Under-19 all-rounder, was the architect of Ace Capital CC’s win, scoring an undefeated 70 (127 balls, 5 fours) and figuring in an eighth wicket stand of 56 with Roshan Jayatissa (26). Spinners Keshara Nuwantha (5/77) and Nimesh Vimukthi (4/49) were Panadura SC’s successful bowlers. Skipper Irosh Samarasooriya scored an undefeated 57 (100 balls, 6 fours, 1 six) in Panadura SC’s second innings of 111-2, when bad light put an end to play.