The Premier Tier ‘A’ and ‘B’ limited over tournaments which are in progress now is hotting up and with the completion of the third round matches of both the categories. The Chilaw Marians, Bloomfield, Police and Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC are leading their respective groups of Group ‘A’ and ‘B’.

Chilaw Marians who were the runners up last year are having a hundred percent record of having won all their three matches but closely on the heels are the lads from NCC who is lying second. Chilaw Marians take the top spot by virtue of the bonus points they received in their win against Badureliya CC.
Tamil Union who were the champions last year is lying in the fifth position with only one win from their three outings while the third and fourth slots are occupied by CCC and Badureliya CC. The possibility is that the other teams in this group will have little chance of making it into the semi final with only two matches left.

Premier League action on Friday.

In the other group Bloomfield are leading with two wins from three outings. In the second spot is Colts followed by SSC who has the same results as Bloomfield who take the top spot also by virtue of a bonus point.

In the Tier ‘B’ category Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC are going great guns having secured three wins out of three in their group followed by Army and BRC with one win each. Police occupy the top slot in the other group with two wins out of two followed by Panadura, Moors and Air Force.

Performancewise there are have been three centurions so far with Mahela Jayawardena making the top score of 163 n.o against Bloomfield, Upul Tharanga 118 against Badureliya CC and Malinda Warnapura 111 against Saracens SC.

Leading in the bowling is the Lankan international new find Tissara Perera who has lived up to expectation with 18 wickets in two matches while the much pampered international failure Dilhara Fernando is way down below with two wickets in two outings in 18 overs.

But the most consistent player of the tournament so far has been Chilaw Marinas skipper Mahela Udawatte who has scored three successive half tons with two knocks of 53 and 55 against Tamil Union and Lankan CC and 68 against Badureliya CC while three bowlers Chinthaka Perera (Chilaw Marians), Nuwan Pradeep (Bloomfield) and Madura Lakmal (Ragama CC) have had the honour of taking five wickets in an inning.

There are seven matches down for decision today with three in the Tier ‘A’ and four in the Tier ‘B’. The pick of the matches is no doubt the encounter between Chilaw Marians and NCC which is going to be crucial to both the teams.

The outcome of this match will decide who is going to be the leader as the difference between the teams is just one points (14 and 13). The two teams will play their last match on January 4 (Tuesday) which are not tough assignments with Chilaw Marians taking on CCC and NCC contesting Lankan CC.
The other four teams Colts, Ragama CC, CCC and Badureliya CC who are involved in other games today will have a lot to do if they are to make any progress in this tournament.

Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC and Police the two leaders in the Tier ‘B’ category could maintain their unbeaten as they confront two forces team in Army and Navy. Even if Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC loses this game they could yet be the leaders as they accumulated 14 points with the next two best having five points each.

Today’s schedule:
Tier ‘A’ – NCC vs Chilaw Marians at NCC, Colts vs Ragama CC at Colts and CCC vs Badureliya CC at CCC.

Tier ‘B’ – BRC vs Antonians SC at BRC, Moors vs Panadura at Braybrooke Place, Police vs Navy at Police Park and Army vs Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC at Panagoda.