Milan Rathnayaka struck early blows with three wickets to have SSC on the back foot
Ramesh Mendis held the Moors SC innings together with 85
SSC’s Prabath Jayasuriya celebrates a wicket on his way to a four-wicket haul
Nipun Dananjaya played a lone hand for SSC with 98
Induwara Udena ran through the SSC middle and lower order taking four wickets
- Crown themselves champions in 50-over final
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Moors SC led by Pasindu Sooriyabandara pulled off a memorable 25-run win over SSC to crown themselves champions in the Major Club 50-over tournament.
In the final played under lights at the R Premadasa Cricket Stadium yesterday, Moors SC invited to bat first ran up a decent total of 260 with the major part of their batting coming from the 79-run stand for the sixth wicket between Ramesh Mendis (85 off 91 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) and Milan Rathnayaka (43 off 61 balls, 2 fours, 2 sixes). Following Rathnayaka’s dismissal, Mendis carried on to take Moors SC to a total which they were to successfully defend.
The wickets for SSC were taken by their two left-arm bowlers – seamer Mihiranga Silva (3/36) and Prabath Jayasuriya (4/44).
Given the way SSC had scored in their previous matches leading up to the final, the score was attainable with their strong batting line-up led by their captain Avishka Fernando who came into yesterday’s game with back to back hundreds (138 and 160) under his belt. But Rathnayaka showed how deadly he can be with the new ball. He struck thrice in his opening spell sending back Ron Chandraguptha (11), Avishka Fernando (6) and Nuwanidu Fernando (1) to have SSC reeling at 40-3.
It soon became 110-6 when the spinners came into play. Nipun Dananjaya (98 off 112 balls, 8 fours, 1 six) and Kavindu Nadeeshan (44 off 53 balls, 4 fours) mounted a counter attack with a partnership of 94 for the seventh wicket. But left-arm spinner Induwara Udena (4/44) not only got rid of both batsmen but kept the SSC run rate in check with some tidy bowling. With the asking rate mounting to over 10 an over the tail found it extremely difficult to find the boundaries and SSC were eventually dismissed for 235.
Despite the loss it was a good comeback to the Major Club fold by SSC and reach a final. They were relegated to Tier B following an indifferent 2024-25 season where they finished at the bottom two of their group in the Major Club 3-day league, but made a determined bid in 2025 to regain their lost prestige. They won the Tier B 50-over final beating Moratuwa SC by four wickets and made giant strides towards gaining promotion to the Major Club division by winning the Tier B 3-day league and finishing runner-up to Malay CC in the Tier B T20 final.
Scores:
Moors SC 260 (49.5) (Sithara Gimhan 39, Sohan de Livera 29, Ramesh Mendis 85, Milan Rathnayaka 43, Mihiranga Silva 3/36, Prabath Jayasuriya 4/44) beat SSC 235 (49.5) (Dinura Kalupahana 30, Nipun Dananjaya 98, Kavindu Nadeeshan 44, Milan Rathnayaka 3/33, Induwara Udena 4/44)
