da gbg bet： Tamil Union enjoyed a late revival to leave them in a strong positionagainst the Sinhalese Sports Club at NCC Grounds in the first of the PremierLeague semi-finals, whilst Nondescripts struggled after a dream startagainst Colts CC at P
CricInfo21-Mar-2002Tamil Union enjoyed a late revival to leave them in a strong positionagainst the Sinhalese Sports Club at NCC Grounds in the first of the PremierLeague semi-finals, whilst Nondescripts struggled after a dream startagainst Colts CC at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium.But Tamil Union’s joy at having established an early advantage against aformidable SSC side will be checked by the disappointment of ace spinnerMuttiah Muralitharan not playing; he travels to India at the weekend tocollect his CEAT Player of Year award.Tamil Union had started brightly with Nuwan Shiroman (45 from 60 balls)adding 37 runs for the first wicket wicket with Sunendra Kumara and 50 forthe second with Ruvin Pieris (94 from 186 balls) – one of the stars of thisyear’s domestic season.However, the middle order then struggled as Ruchira Perera, pressing for aplace on the England tour, had Shiroman caught behind and Dilhara Fernando,making a welcome, and timely with England around the corner, return tocompetitive action after sustaining a stress fracture in his back six monthsago, dismissed Peiris.Tamil Union slipped from 87 for one to 268 for eight and SSC would have beeneying a commanding grip on the game. But Ranga Dias (65 not out from 155balls), a strongly built all-rounder, and Niroshan Bandaratillake (46 notout from 47 balls) then changed the course of the match adding an unbeaten87 from the ninth wicket.At the Sara Oval, NCC, the defending champions, enjoyed a fierce tussle withColts CC, both sides boasting a number of international players.NCC started brilliantly, with Pradeep Hewage (80 from 141 balls) and NaweedNawaz (50 from 151 balls) compiling a 126-run opening stand.But Dinuk Hettiarachchi – the quietly forgotten left-arm spinner who madehis debut against England at SSC, bowling creditably, only to be discardedin the next series – then grabbed three wickets after Nawaz was run-out byEric Upashantha.Kumar Sangakkara continued his golden touch from Lahore, racing to 30 off 24balls before perishing, whilst Aravinda de Silva wasted a prime opportunityto impress the selectors when he was bowled by Hettiarachchi for 19.Fortunately for NCC, who had slipped to 204 for five, Hashan Tillakaratnewas around to play a characteristic rearguard innings. Playing with greaterfreedom that in the Asian Test Championship, when he had crawled to 19,Tillakaratne scored 88 from 139 balls, hitting 12 boundaries.