Current and former Sri Lanka Test captains notch centuries in first round of Major League Tournament

Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal shine in Major League Tournament

Sri Lanka's premier first-class competition, the Major League Tournament, began on December 6, with six matches being played across two groups. Chandimal, playing for Colts Cricket Club, and de Silva, playing for Colombo Cricket Club, started the season on a good note, scoring hundreds in the first round.

The Colts Cricket Club fielded first against Chilaw Marians, and restricted them to 232 with Harshana Wickramasinghe picking up 4-44. They lost opener Ravindu Rasantha early in response, bringing Chandimal in at three. With Shalin de Mel (76 off 94), Chandimal added 86 for the second wicket.

Regular wickets at the other end following Mel's dismissal saw the Colts slip to 212-5, before Chadimal and Sheran Foneska (27 off 54) rescued the innings with a 90-run sixth-wicket stand. From 302-5, they eventually collapsed to 341 all out, with Chandimal being the seventh wicket to fall, having made 152 off 176 balls at a strike rate of 86.36. This was his 36th first-class hundred, 16 of which have come in Test cricket.

Also read: A captain dropping himself? It helped Sri Lanka win a World T20 title

The 109-run lead proved to be more than enough for Colts CC, as they wrapped up Chilaw Marians for 78 on day three to win the match by an innings and 31 runs. Akila Danajaya was the pick of their bowlers, taking five wickets for 27 runs.

Dinesh Chandimal, first-class career:

Over at the SSC in Colombo, Colombo Cricket Club notched up 452-9 against Nugegoda Sports Welfare Club in the first innings, led by current Sri Lanka Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva's 117 off 127 balls from No.4. He was well supported by No.3 Sahan Kosala (75 off 117) and No.5 Pavan Rathnayake (98 off 107). WIth the ball, Colombo bowled Nugegoda out for 238, with off-spinner Nishan Peiris, who made his Test debut in 2024, taking 7-67. At the time of writing, Nugegoda were 20-1 while following on.

This century was de Silva's 28th three-figure score in first-class cricket, also taking him beyond 9,500 runs in the format. Twelve of those hundreds have come in Test cricket for the Sri Lanka captain.

Dhananjaya de Silva, first-class career:

Batting

Bowling