LNP – SSC on the verge of losing first-class status

• Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC), one of Sri Lanka’s topmost cricket-playing domestic clubs, are in a spot of bother as they are on the verge of losing their first-class status after their lacklustre performance in the ongoing Major Club three-day cricket tournament.

SSC, in fact, are the defending joint champions with Police SC. They found themselves in a precarious position after conceding the first innings lead to traditional rivals and neighbours Nondescripts Cricket Club (NCC) in the match concluded at the NCC ground.

On the final day of play, SSC resumed from their overnight score of 337/7, with three wickets in hand needing just 42 runs to surpass NCC’s score of 379, but they failed to achieve it as they lost the remaining three wickets for the addition of 15 and were bowled out for a score of 352.

SSC have in their ranks players of the calibre of Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Prabath Jayasuriya, Avishka Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, and Nuwanidu Fernando, but some of the top players were not available for matches that were played.

They underwent outright defeats to lesserknown clubs like Kurunegala YCC and BRC but were able to chalk up only one outright win from the seven matches that they played.

The relegation from the top division no doubt is going to be hard enough for a club that has a history of 125 years of existence and having dominated and also feeding players to the national side.