Report

De Zoysa stars as SL Army defeat Ragama

A round-up of the fifth-round matches of the Premier Limited Overs tournament

File photo: Upul Tharanga made 119 but couldn't take Nondescripts Cricket Club to victory over Moors Sports Club  •  AFP

File photo: Upul Tharanga made 119 but couldn't take Nondescripts Cricket Club to victory over Moors Sports Club  •  AFP

Group A

Manjula de Zoysa, the 30-year-old allrounder, scored 72 and took four wickets as Sri Lanka Army Sports Club beat Ragama Cricket Club by 40 runs at Army Ground, Panagoda. Batting first, SL Army were 51 for 3 before de Zoysa and Asela Gunaratne added 65 for the fourth wicket. De Zoysa was dismissed in the 49th over after facing 123 balls and hitting five fours and two sixes. Chatura Damith's 11-ball 20 and Janith Silva's 16-ball 26 gave SL Army's innings the momentum it needed to reach 236.
Lasie Thabrew struck twice in his first over to leave Ragama at 6 for 2. A fourth-wicket stand of 58 between Dhananjaya de Silva and Sameera de Zoysa helped them recover before the former was run-out for 41 to trigger a collapse. Manjula de Zoysa removed his namesake for 40, and took three more wickets with his offspin as Ragama collapsed to 144 for 8 from 103 for 3. Ragama's ninth-wicket pair came together with their side needing to score 93 in 9.1 overs. They stuck together to add an unbroken 52, with Lahiru Jayaratne scoring a run-a-ball 42 and Sajeewa Weerakoon scoring 12.
Chasing 205, Badureliya Sports Club lost their last five wickets for 24 runs as Panadura Sports Club won by 12 runs at Panadura Esplanade. When skipper Imesh Udayanga fell for 24 after putting on 68 with Prasad Dias for the sixth wicket, Badureliya needed 37 from 54 balls.
But Dias watched the lower order crumble, with three more wickets falling over the next 4.4 overs to leave Badureliya 181 for 9. Last man Wikum Sanjaya struck a four and a six to move to 11 from eight balls and revive Badureliya's hopes somewhat, but left-arm spinner Gayan Sirisoma dismissed Dias for a 107-ball 67 to take his third wicket and give Panadura four points.
Earlier, Thilan Thushara struck three times to reduce Panadura to 19 for 3 in 4.3 overs. They were 48 for 4 when Charitha Buddhika walked in. He put on 37 for the fifth wicket with opener Nalin Vimukthi (35) and 44 for the seventh with Koshan Dhanushka in scoring 62 off 84 balls which took them to 204.
A five-wicket haul from Hasantha Fernando and half-centuries from Prasanna Jayawardene and Chamara Silva helped Colombo Cricket Club to a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka Air Force Sports Club at Bloomfield Cricket Ground.
Air Force opener Sajith Kalumpriya retired hurt when his side were 6 for no loss. He returned to the crease at 58 for 2, after a 33-run second-wicket partnership between Thuppahi Nadeera and Yashodha Lanka. Air Force soon subsided to 80 for 4, as Fernando came on as third-change and took his first two wickets. Kalumpriya then added 83 with Ajith Kumara before he was dismissed for an 87-ball 59 to leave Air Force 163 for 5. That soon became 166 for 7. The last three pairs scraped together 34 before Fernando's fifth wicket ended Air Force's innings at 200.
Colombo CC were 34 for 3 after eight overs of their chase, but Jayawardene and Silva ended any hopes of an Air Force victory with a 112-run fourth-wicket stand. After Jayawardene's dismissal for an 84-ball 70, Indika de Saram combined with Silva (77*) in an unbroken 55-run partnership for the fifth wicket to take Colombo home with 13.2 overs remaining.

Group B

Sachithra Serasinghe scored 54 and Isuru Udana smashed an unbeaten 27-ball 40 as Sri Lanka Ports Authority Cricket Club defeated Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club by three wickets at the Premadasa Stadium.
Serasinghe put on 80 with Gayan Maneeshan to take Ports Authority, chasing 233, from 87 for 4 to 167 for 5. When Maneeshan was dismissed, Ports Authority needed 66 from 57 balls and When Serasinghe was sent back, the equation had stiffened to 50 from 33. Ranesh Perera hastened the scoring with three fours before falling for 19 and Udana took them home.
Earlier, Denuwan Rajakaruna (69) and Pulina Tharanga (52) had put on 117 to take Tamil Union from 105 for 5 to 222 for 6 after Ashen Silva (44) had steadied the innings among fall of wickets.
A century from Shehan Jayasuriya and a four-wicket haul from Malinda Pushpakumara propelled Moors Sports Club to a 12-run win over Nondescripts Cricket Club, for whom Upul Tharanga's 119 went in vain.
Sent in, Moors were led by Jayasuriya and Oshada Fernando (71) who put on 186 for the second wicket. Jayasuriya was bowled by Farveez Maharoof in the 40th over for 114, having struck 10 fours and two sixes. Janaka Gunaratne then smashed an unbeaten 33 off 18, as Moors finished on 284 for 5.
Nondescripts looked in control of the chase while Tharanga was at the crease. The left-handed opener put on 53 for the second wicket with Maharoof and 119 for the third with Angelo Perera, who made a 64-ball 51. Having made 119 off 141 balls, Tharanga was run-out to leave Nondescripts at 214 for 4, needing 71 off 45 balls. Kosala Kulasekara kept them in the hunt with a 17-ball 23, but their innings unraveled after his dismissal in the 47th over. The spinners did most of the damage for Moors, with left-arm spinner Pushpakumara finishing with 4 for 30 from nine overs and offspinner Janaka Gunaratne with 3 for 44 from 10.
Suraj Randiv took four wickets and Madawa Warnapura scored a half-century as Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club defeated Chilaw Marians Cricket Club by four wickets. Having chosen to field first at the Moors Sports Club ground, Bloomfield bowled Chilaw out for 174 in 40.2 overs, before reaching the target with 10 overs to spare.
Bloomfield took an early wicket before Kanchana Gunawardene and Geeth Alwis stabilised the Chilaw innings with a 33-run stand. Randiv then struck three times over the next 10 overs before Imran Khan dismissed Gunawardene for 36 to leave Chilaw 89 for 5. Wickets kept falling regularly, but Nimesh Perera counterattacked, and was last out for a 55-ball 63 with nine fours and a six.
Lahiru Gamage struck twice to reduce Bloomfield to 32 for 2 in reply, but an 84-run stand between Warnapura and Nadeera Nawela put their chase back on track. They fell within 16 runs and Bloomfield were soon 141 for 5, but a 21 from Randiv and an unbeaten 12 from Suminda Mendis took them over the line.