The first round matches of the SLC Premier League Tournament ‘Tier A’ 2016/17 were completed last weekend as all 14 teams played six matches a piece throughout the seven weeks of action.
The top eight teams will battle it out in the Super Eight stage while the bottom six will fight it out to secure their place in the top tier, competing in the Plate Championship. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has planned to play all the Super Eight matches using the pink ball and those games will be four-day games while the Plate matches will be three-day affairs.
Group A
Chilaw Marians, SSC, Tamil Union and NCC have booked their place in the Super Eight stage. Chilaw has been the most dominant team, securing four wins and 82.52 points followed by a close three-way tie between neighbours, SSC and NCC and defending champions, Tamil Union. The reigning champions are the only unbeaten team in this group. Badureliya, Bloomfield and Galle will play in the Plate Championship.
Group B
Ragama CC was the most dominant team in Group B as they topped the charts with two outright wins and four draws. CCC, Colombo Colts and Sri Lanka Army make up the rest of the line up from group B to make it to the Super Eight stage. BRC, Saracens and Moors will now play in the Plate Championship after failing to make it into the top four. Incidentally, all four of the top teams are yet to be beaten outright this season as only four outright wins were recorded in this group.
Batting Performances
Chilaw Marians opening batsman Shehan Jayasuriya heads the batting list with 731 runs including 2 centuries and 3 half-tons in 6 matches. He struck a career-best 237 against Bloomfield recently while Bloomfield skipper Nipun Karunanayake remains in the second place scoring 672 runs with 3 centuries and 2 half-tons.
Former Josephian and current Colts CC batsman, Sadeera Samarawickrama is placed number 3 in the list with 670 runs including 3 hundreds and 3 half-tons. His three hundreds came in the final three matches and he has the best average among the top 10 run-scorers.
Top 10 Run-Scorers
| Player | Mat | Inns | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 100 | 50 |
| Shehan Jayasuriya (Chilaw Marians) | 6 | 11 | 731 | 237 | 66.45 | 100.82 | 2 | 3 |
| Nipun Karunanayake (Bloomfied) | 6 | 12 | 672 | 183 | 56.00 | 70.51 | 3 | 2 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama (Colts) | 6 | 11 | 670 | 130 | 74.44 | 80.91 | 3 | 3 |
| Niroshan Dickwella (NCC) | 5 | 10 | 522 | 183 | 52.20 | 97.20 | 1 | 3 |
| Lahiru Jayakody (Bloomfield) | 6 | 12 | 518 | 118* | 47.09 | 56.42 | 1 | 4 |
| Ron Chandraguptha (CCC) | 6 | 10 | 514 | 116 | 57.11 | 62.91 | 2 | 2 |
| Irosh Samarasooriya (Saracens) | 6 | 11 | 513 | 110 | 51.30 | 58.96 | 1 | 5 |
| Mahela Udawatte (Chilaw Marians) | 6 | 11 | 500 | 89 | 45.45 | 69.54 | 0 | 6 |
| Udara Jayasundera (Ragama) | 6 | 9 | 489 | 144 | 69.85 | 62.05 | 3 | 2 |
| Sandun Weerakkody (NCC) | 5 | 9 | 485 | 113 | 60.62 | 99.79 | 2 | 2 |
Bowling Performances
Chilaw Marians left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara has captured 55 wickets thus far, running through many batting line-ups to top the bowling charts. On the way to 55 wickets, Pushpakumara crossed the personal milestone of 500 wickets in first-class cricket as well and has taken 7 five wicket hauls and three 10 wicket match bags.
Badureliya CC skipper and right-arm off-spinner Alankara Asanaka and Ragama CC left-arm spinner Amila Aponso are placed second and third respectively. Asanka has claimed 44 wickets and Aponso has 40 wickets under his belt.
Top 10 Wicket-Takers
| Player | Mat | Inns | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 5 | 10 |
| PM Pushpakumara | 6 | 12 | 254.0 | 44 | 829 | 55 | 7/52 | 11/148 | 15.07 | 3.26 | 27.7 | 7 | 3 |
| AAS Silva | 6 | 11 | 251.2 | 34 | 865 | 44 | 7/87 | 10/157 | 19.65 | 3.44 | 34.2 | 3 | 1 |
| MA Aponso | 6 | 11 | 212.5 | 39 | 571 | 40 | 7/71 | 11/136 | 14.27 | 2.68 | 31.9 | 3 | 1 |
| KMM de Silva | 6 | 11 | 204.1 | 22 | 745 | 37 | 5/41 | 9/153 | 20.13 | 3.64 | 33.1 | 3 | 0 |
| D Hettiarachchi | 6 | 12 | 274.1 | 30 | 923 | 36 | 6/115 | 7/158 | 25.63 | 3.36 | 45.6 | 3 | 0 |
| JDF Vandersay | 5 | 9 | 171.3 | 20 | 618 | 33 | 6/44 | 10/155 | 18.72 | 3.60 | 31.1 | 5 | 1 |
| S Randiv | 6 | 10 | 242.4 | 48 | 687 | 30 | 6/85 | 9/145 | 22.90 | 2.83 | 48.5 | 1 | 0 |
| MA Liyanapathiranage | 6 | 12 | 158.2 | 29 | 566 | 29 | 6/36 | 10/64 | 19.51 | 3.57 | 32.7 | 2 | 1 |
| PC de Silva | 5 | 8 | 179.3 | 27 | 655 | 28 | 6/67 | 7/110 | 23.39 | 3.64 | 38.4 | 2 | 0 |
| BMAJ Mendis | 5 | 10 | 189.3 | 30 | 593 | 27 | 4/49 | 8/135 | 21.96 | 3.12 | 42.1 | 0 | 0 |
The biggest setback for Sri Lanka Cricket is that Kasun Rajitha is the only seamer in the top 25-wickets list as he is placed in the 24th position claiming 19 wickets from 6 games.
Super Eight and Plate Championship?
Now things are down to the business end of the Premier League tournament in Sri Lanka. Each team will play their opponents from the opposing group in both the Super Eight and Plate Championships and at the end of the next four weeks, the team with the most number of points in the Super Eight will be crowned the Domestic champions while the team with the least number of points in the Plate Championship will be relegated to Tier B next season.
Super Eight Fixtures
20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd January, 2017
Chilaw Marians vs SL Army at P.Sara grounds.
NCC vs Ragama at CCC grounds.
SSC vs Colts at FTZ grounds.
Tamil Union vs CCC at Colts grounds.
28th, 29th, 30th and 31st January, 2017
CCC vs NCC at P. Sara Oval grounds.
Colts vs Chilaw Marians at CCC grounds.
Ragama vs Tamil Union at FTZ grounds.
SL Army vs SSC at Colts grounds.
5th, 6th, 7th and 8th February, 2017
Chilaw Marians vs CCC at Surrey Village grounds.
NCC vs Colts at De Soysa grounds.
SSC vs Ragama at R. Premadasa Stadium.
Tamil Union vs SL Army at Colts grounds.
13th, 14th, 15th and 16th February, 2017
CCC vs SSC at R. Premadasa Stadium.
Colts vs Tamil Union at Surrey Village grounds.
Ragama vs Chilaw Marians at Colts grounds.
NCC vs SL Army at FTZ grounds.
Plate Fixtures
20th, 21st and 22nd January, 2017
Badureliya vs Moors at BRC grounds.
Bloomfield vs BRC at Army grounds Panagoda.
Galle vs Saracens at Bloomfield grounds.
27th, 28th and 29th January, 2017
Bloomfield vs Moors at Surrey Village grounds.
Badureliya vs Saracens at BRC grounds.
BRC vs Galle at Bloomfield grounds.
5th, 6th and 7th February, 2017
Badureliya vs BRC at Army grounds Panagoda.
Bloomfield vs Saracens at Colts grounds.
Galle vs Moors at BRC grounds.
