CCC retain Major Club title, complete three-peat

CCC, led by Ashan Priyanjan, put in a gallant fightback in a high-scoring Major Club Cricket final to record a first-innings win over Tamil Union at the SSC ground on Sunday to clinch the title.

The win means CCC retain the title for the third successive year, having won the tournament in 2018 and the second in 2019, which was the last tournament played before coming to a standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

On all three occasions, the championship team was led by Priyanjan.

In reply to Tamil Union’s massive score of 558, CCC fought back and ended the third day’s play in a strong position of 411/5, needing a further 148 runs to gain a first-innings win, which would be sufficient to retain the title. 

Overnight pair Chamindu Wijesinghe and skipper Priyanjan had little trouble amassing runs.

They continued the good work done by Kamindu Mendis, Minod Bhanuka and Lasith Abeyratne, with the trio associating in two valuable partnerships.

Wijesinghe and Priyanjan featured in the best partnership of the innings as they tormented the Tamil Union bowlers and sent them on a leather hunt.

The pair succeeded in reaching their tons while helping CCC get closer to the target. 

The separation of the pair, with Wijesinghe making a top score of 139 after having associated in a valuable 219-run stand for the sixth wicket, followed by Priyanjan’s dismissal for 100, meant they needed a further 14 runs for a first innings win.

Later, Pawan Ratnayake and Lakshan Sandakan continued to frustrate the Tamil Union bowlers as the pair put on 81 runs for the ninth wicket for CCC to end their innings with a mammoth score of 669 runs.

Tamil Union batting the second time, a matter only of academic interest, ended the final day’s play with a score of 145/4.

Cheif scores:
Tamil Union 558 (Sadeera Samarawickrama 188, Isuru Udana 88, Navod Paranavithana 54, Ron Chandragupta 48, Kavindu Pathiratne 46, Ravindu Fernando 45, Dilum Sudeera 32; Vishwa Fernando 4/102, Lakshan Sandakan 4/128) and 145/4 (Ravindu Fernando 56, Sadeera Samarawickrama 43, Shiran Fernando 28; Sonal Dinusha 2/52)

CCC (411/5 overnight) 669 (Chamindu Wijesinghe 139, Kamindu Mendis 105, Ashan Priyanjan 100, Pawan Ratnayake 85, Minod Bhanuka 75, Lasith Abeyratne 48, Nimesha Gunasinghe 33, Malinda Pushpakumara 27, Lakshan Sandakan 24; Ravindu Fernando 6/160)

Photo: The Champion CCC team, after retaining their trophy