Sylvestrians clinch cup championship

Kandy Sports Correspondent

CRICKET: St. Sylvesters College became cup champions while Vidyartha College clinched the Plate championship at the Kandy Schools six-a-side cricket tournament organised by the Kandy District Cricket Association and played at the Asgiriya stadium in Kandy.

This tournament which was revived after a lapse of several years produced champagne cricket for the spectators and a number of outstanding performances with the bat and ball was witnessed.

Before the commencement of the cup finals both teams were introduced to the chief guest Dr. R. Mahendra, president of the Kandy District Cricket Associations and the honorary secretary Roland Perera who were the key figures to this tournament.

In the cup finals St. Sylvesters College fielding one of the strongest outfits among schools beat Sri Sumangala College by four wickets. This match was a personal triumph to Sylvestrian allrounder Ravi Karunaratne who captured 3 for 9 in his allotted one over and also smacked an unbeaten 26 not out with 4 fours in 11 deliveries to guide his side to victory.

Sri Sumangala College turned giant killers in the tournament by beating their traditional rivals Sri Rahula College, Katugastota by 3 wickets. Sri Rahula College earlier beat Kingswood College by 2 wickets in another upset in the quarter-finals.

St. Sylvesters College in the quarter-final just managed to beat their home town rivals Vidyartha College with the last pair in with 3 balls to spare. Sylvestrians next beat St. Anthony's College by 17 runs in the semi-finals.

S. Hettiarachchi of St. Anthony's College had three dismissals in his over clean bowling one and two run outs all direct hits by him which almost rocked the ultimate cup champions St. Sylvesters College.

In the Plate finals Vidyartha College after some hiccups conceding 35 runs in the last two overs turned trumps to defeat Kingswood College by just 3 runs in a thriller. Krishan Silva of Kingswood College made a brilliant 38 not out along with Nirmal Jayasuriya (24) put on 64 for the first before the latter was out for the last ball of the match.

Vidyartha College made the highest score of the tournament in scoring 72 for 3 wickets against Mahanama College. Kingswood College made a score of 59 for no loss in defeating Galagedera Central College by 19 runs.

The scores:

Quarter-finals:

St. Sylvester's College beat Vidyartha College by one wicket.

Vidyartha 40 for 2 wickets in 5 overs (M. Weerasekera 17).

St. Sylvester's 41 for 4 in 4.3 overs (R. Wickremarachchi 10, M. Weerasekera 2 for 8).

Sri Sumangala College beat Mahanama College Kandy by 9 runs. Sri Sumangala 51 all out in 5 overs (N. Dissanayake 11, R. Sandaruwan 2 for 5).

Mahanama 42 for 3 wickets in 5 overs (M. Bandaranayake 22).

Sri Rahula College beat Kingswood College by 2 wickets.

Kingswood 59 for 4 in 5 overs (K. Silva 27, A. Amerasinghe 14).

Sri Rahula 61 for 3 in 4.5 overs (M. Bototage 23, M. Bandara 26 n.o.).

Plate semi-finals:

Vidyartha College beat Mahanama College by 21 runs.

Vidyartha 72 for 3 in 5 overs (S. Abeyratne 25, M. Weerasekera 10, S. Kaushalya 13, T. Vimukthi 2 for 5).

Mahanama 51 for 3 in 5 overs (M. Bandara 16, P. Ratnayake 23).

Kingswood College beat Galagedera Central by 19 runs.

Kingswood 59 for no loss (K. Silva 23 n.o., N. Jayasuriya 28).

Galagedera 40 for 2 in 5 overs (B. Chaminda 12, V. B. Shanthi 24, K. Silva 2 for 5).

Plate finals:

Vidyartha College beat Kingswood College by 3 runs.

Vidyartha 67 for 2 wickets in 5 overs (Nadun Basnayake 32 n.o., S. Kaushalya 19 n.o., M. Bandaranayake 2 for 1).

Kingswood 64 for 1 in 5 overs (Krishan Silva 38 n.o., Nirmal Jayasuiya 24).

Cup finals:

St. Sylvester's College beat Sri Sumangala College by 4 wickets.

Sri Sumangala 45 all out in 5 overs (P. Attanayake 20, L. Weerabahu 12, Ravi Karunaratne 3 for 9).

St. Sylvester's 46 for 1 in 3.5 overs (Roshan Jayatissa 13 n.o., Ravi Karunaratne 26 n.o., P. Palihena 1 for 12).