Maharoof strikes form for NCC

By M Naushad Amit

Farveez Maharoof

Out of the total 11 matches played through last weekend, 8 matches ended with decisions while the rest ended as draws. At a much needed time, a blistering knock of 115 not out by Sri Lanka all-rounder Farveez Maharoof guided NCC to their third outright win of the season as they went on to beat defending champions, Colts by 6 wickets in their Inter-Club Premier match played at Havelock Park last weekend. NCC bowled out Colts for 170 in their first innings and after being strongly placed at 142-3 collapsed for 200. However they had Colts in trouble in the second innings and dismissed them for 224 leaving themselves with a challenging target of 195 runs to chase in nearly two sessions on the final day. Maharoof ensured NCC got there in convincing fashion after early hiccups (15-3) with a match-winning century.
NCC coach Hemantha Devapriya said: “Of course Maharoof’s contribution was vital for us at a point when we lost three early wickets. But if you take the whole match in perspective it was due to the contribution of all the team members spearheaded by Maharoof that enabled us to win.”
Devapriya was full of praise for fast-bowler Kosala Kulasekara for creating the initial opening for a possible win. “It was Kulasekara’s four early wickets that helped us have Colts all out for 170 in the first innings. It was the initial breakthrough that helped towards our win and it was a major achievement against a team like Colts to have them bundled out for such a small total. We were well placed at 142-3 on the first day but two unfortunate run outs saw us stumble. We expected our seamers to do well but spinner Chanka Komasaru came to our rescue in the second innings.”
All-rounder Suraj Randiv was the match winner for Bloomfield as they inflicted a five-wicket defeat on Army SC at Reid Avenue. Army SC put in an improved performance after gaining first innings honours by scoring 251 in their first innings and dismissing Bloomfield for 216. Randiv stroked a career best 112 and then went onto distinguish himself as an all-rounder by taking 13 wickets in the match including a career best 9 for 109 off 35.2 overs in the second innings.
Army coach Saman Hewavitharana said: “It was our own mistakes that gave Randiv so many wickets. He bowled to a field that had seven on the leg-side but our batsmen faced him quite easily. He had the luck on that day as our batsmen were nervous in the latter stages of the second innings and they knew by drawing this match we could have definitely earned first innings points. Of course we had a good start and we had something to lose if we conceded a win while Bloomfield had nothing to lose and they took the risk of chasing 267 runs for victory and achieved it. Chamara Silva took the game away from us with a hard-hit 112. It was our game and we threw away our chances.”
SSC gained one place from last week climbing to No.3 in the table after their first win of the season against hapless Moors SC by an innings and 83 runs at Maitland Place. SSC declared at 466-7 after tons by Hans Fernando (103) and Thilina Kandamby (102) propped up their total. SSC’s spinning duo Kaushalya Lokuarachchi (4/16) and Sachithra Serasinghe (3/36) caused the collapse of Moors for 135 who were compelled to follow-on and were bowled out for 248. Serasinghe returned figures of 5/76 and his coach Avishka Gunawardene went on to praise his laudable efforts.
“This outright win helped us a lot with our proceedings in the tournament. It was a very good and collective effort by the entire team and all should be thanked for their contributions. However Moors batsmen didn’t look comfortable against our combined seam and spin attack,” said Gunawardene who was happy to see Kandamby back among runs.
Ragama CC went down one place to No.4 after they drew their match against Tamil Union at Maitland Place. Lahiru Thirimanne went on to score 107 while Indika de Saram missed out a well deserved ton by two runs in Ragama CC’s total of 361. Medium-pacer Dinesh Daminda was the pick of the bowlers with 6/71 as Tamil Union replied with 318. Ragama CC used rest of the sessions for batting practice reaching 268-8.
Badureliya SC who moved up one notch to No.5 recording a 10-wicket win over Saracens with the help of their top-order batsman Ramesh Perera who scored an unbeaten 123 and of-spinner Asanka Silva who claimed a match bag of 11 for 121 (4/48 & 7/73) at the Panadura Esplanade. Saracens were bowled out for 200 and 187 in reply to Badureliya’s 366.
An unbeaten knock of 151 by Milinda Siriwardena helped Chilaw Marians record a comfortable 10-wicket win over CCC at Maitland Crescent. Marians declared at 403-7 in reply to CCC’s first innings score of 167. CCC was shot out for 245 in their second innings and Marians were left with the formality of scoring 10 runs for victory.
Tier B table leaders Lankan CC continued their winning form by recording an easy 101 runs win against Sebastianites at Moratuwa. Panadura SC earned first innings points in their drawn match against BRC at Havelock Road. As a result Panadura SC and BRC swapped their respective places from last week to No.2 and No.3. Spinners Dulanjana Mendis (5/42) and Udara Lakmal (4/49) helped Navy SC achieve No.4 in the points table with a comfortable innings and 75 runs win over Moratuwa SC at Welisara. Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC gained first innings points in their drawn match against Police SC at Police Park to gain a place to No.5 this week.