OECL Ceylon CC took on Rebels CC in the other 40 over contest of the weekend and bright skies welcomed the players as Ceylon chose to bat first. The Ceylon openers started cautiously and were looking solid till the introduction of pace in the form of Sujeet Ramgir & Gaurav Tandon. Four wickets fell quickly and Rebels were in with a chance of breaking through especially since veteran Dihan Silva was still searching for timing.
The young Shubham Patni, however batted well and Dihan rediscovered his magic as they put on a crucial 76 run stand. Isaac Thambi, Rajeev Kumar & Hashmatullah then helped accelerate as 80 runs came off the last 10 overs and this along with the help of 37 wides took Ceylon CC to a daunting score of 255 runs.
The Rebels chase didn’t start well as they lost their openers early. Geoff Perryman & Vivek Elankannan tried to rebuild the innings but both fell after a brief 50 run partnership. Hashmatullah then mixed his pace beautifully to prevent the middle order from achieving any acceleration and in the end, despite some late order hitting by Gaurav Tandon, the Rebels ended up 75 runs short.
