Bloomfield begin with thumping win

Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club registered the only win of the opening round of the Premier League Tournament, thumping Panadura Sport Club by nine wickets. The win was set up by new-ball bowler Imran Khan and offspinner Suraj Randiv, who claimed nine wickets between them to bowl Panadura out for 109 on day one. While none of Bloomfield's batsmen could build on starts, a series of cameos gave them a sizeable lead of 171. Panadura put in an improved performance in their second innings, but still none of their batsmen could get to a fifty. Left-arm spinner Chatura Randunu took 5 for 85 and helped keep Panadura to 224. That left Bloomfield chasing a mere 54, and they knocked the runs off in less than 10 overs.

Ragama Cricket Club played out a draw with Sinhalese Sports Club, but they secured the first-innings lead and with it, a handful of points to go second on the Group A table. Ragama's dominance was set up by centuries from Udara Jayasundera and Ian Daniel; they got to 417 in their first innings, and while SSC did not cave in themselves, they still fell a 104 short of the lead. Ragama then raced to 216 in the second essay, on the back of 68-ball 70 from their captain Sameera de Zoysa, before declaring when nine down. SSC were a bit shaky in the 13 overs they played out before play was called off, losing two wickets for 36. But with time of the essence, they were never really in danger of a defeat.

Not even two innings could be completed in the high-scoring draw between Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club and Sri Lanka Ports Authority Cricket Club. Sri Lanka Ports chose to bowl and were made to slave for 111 overs, as Tamil Union piled on 423. Their innings was built around a century from Jeevan Mendis. Sri Lanka Ports more than paid them back in kind, though, batting out 143 overs for the loss of just four wickets, with hundreds from Yohan de Silva (127), Mahela Udawatte (191) and captain Ashan Priyanjan (114 not out).

A fighting hundred from Yashodha Lanka (101) and fifties from Sajith Kalumpriya (67) and Lahiru Lakmal (69) helped Sri Lanka Air Force Sports Club draw with Moors Sports Club as they were 338 for 8 while chasing 369 on the last day.

A century from Dilhara Lokuhettige (119*) took Moors to 380 in the first innings before they restricted SL Air Force to 229 with the help of five wickets from Janaka Gunaratne to take a lead of 161 runs. Moors scored another 217 for 5 before declaring as Shehan Jayasuriya and Oshada Fernando scored fifties to set SL Air Force a competitive target. Jayasuriya took wickets regularly and got six of the eight that SL Air Force lost on the last day but couldn't force a win and Moors took home 12.785 points compared to SL Air Force's 4.335.

Colts Cricket Club and Sri Lanka Army Sports Club drew in Colombo with SL Army scoring 130 for 3 in chase of 216 on the last day. The match see-sawed after four wickets from Janith Silva restricted Colts to 192 despite a fighting 72 from Thisara Perera. SL Army took a lead of 169 with a knock of 86 from Mohammad Feshal and other contributions from the lower order. But colts fought back with Roshen Silva's unbeaten 181 from 195 balls before they declared. SL Army saw fifties from Feshal and Manjula de Zoysa but the there wasn't any time left in the match and the first-innings lead got them 12.255 points.

A tame draw unfolded between Nondescripts Cricket Club and Colombo Cricket Club in Colombo after Nondescripts batted almost the entire day in the end. Nondescripts opted to bat and were rocked by Dilesh Gunaratne's four wickets to be 124 for 8 before lower-order batsmen Tharindu Kaushal (77*) and Sohan Boralessa (44) took them to 242. A hundred from Chamara Silva (103) and fifties from Hasantha Fernando (99*) and Indika de Saram (65) gave them a lead of 90 runs to get the extra points. Nondescripts displayed a better performance on the last day when Upul Tharanga (97), Farveez Maharoof (56*) and Kosala Kulasekara (50*) scored fifties.