Peiris, Mazahir put Thomians in command
128th Battle of the Blues - Day one
Dinesh Weerawansa
ROYAL-THOMIAN: S. Thomas’ taught what the ‘Black and Blue
Magic’ is all about as they used the misfortune of losing the toss to be
a blessing in disguise to be in a commanding position in their 128th
Battle of the Blues cricket encounter against Royal which begun at the
SSC grounds yesterday.
Centuries by skipper Ashan Peiris (161) and Nisham Mazahir (162) put
S. Thomas’ in a strong position as Royal made desperate attempts to stop
the Thomian run-machines. In reply to S.Thomas’ commanding first innings
total of 374 for 7 declared, Royal were reeling at 40 for 3 at the close
on day one.
Royal captain Haroon Mowjood surprised everybody when he opted to
field first after winning a crucial toss last morning. For a moment, his
decision was proved correct as Royal removed opener Shashreeka
Pussegolla for six runs with the total on 17.
But their joy was short-lived as the Thomians overcame the early life
of the wicket to go for a healthy total. Thomian captain Peiris who came
in one down, joined opener Ashan Fernando to add 66 runs for the second
wicket.
That was a crucial partnership which paved way for a Thomian run
feast. At lunch, S.Thomas’ were 145 for 2.
Then came the most frustrating time for Royal bowlers as S. Thomas’
were given the liberty of scoring freely. Skipper Peiris and Nisham
Majahir added 238 runs for the third wicket as the Thomians strengthened
their grip. The duo showed no mercy on the Royal bowlers who were
punished to all corners of the picturesque SSC grounds.
This is the first time that S. Thomas’ enjoyed the luxury of a double
century partnership in a big match. The Peiris-Mazahir alliance
accounted for the highest ever Thomian partnership for any wicket in the
Battle of the Blues series, erasing the previous mark of 187 held by Ian
Peiris (123) and Geoff Wijesinghe (64) for the fifth wicket in 1953.
On their way to that record breaking 238-run stand, they also
bettered the record Thomian third wicket partnership of 136 runs held by
B.U. Karunaratne (116) and Nilanka Peiris (108) in 1997.
The way the Thomians were sailing comfortably, it looked as if they
would easily go pass their highest total of 388 for 9 registered in
1996. But the departure of Mazahir put Royal back into the picture after
Mowjood used as many as nine bowlers in sheer frustration.
Both captain Peiris (161 with 21 boundaries off 208 balls in 269
minutes) and Mazahir (162 with three sixes and 19 boundaries off 170
balls in 215 minutes) were in with a good chances of bettering Duleep
Mendis’ highest individual innings for the Thomians - 184 runs in 1972.
Mazahir was the more aggressive of the two and the way he came down
the track to hit his last six proved he even had a good chance of
notching the highest ever individual innings of the series - 197 by
Royalist Sumithra Warnakulasuriya in 1980.
The Royalists’ fielding was at its worst as they threw away several
chances that came their way. The most notable of them was the ‘life’
that Peiris got when he was 70 - dropped by Charith Fernando off
Thanthirige with the total on 117 for 2. That turned out to be a costly
miss as the batsman added a further 91 runs before he was caught by
Mowjood off Ahamed for a well compiled 161.
Mazahir’s majestic knock came to an end when he tried to go over a
flighted delivery from Thanthirogoda, to be caught by H. Fernando at
long on. That exposed the poor depth in Thomian batting as they lost
four wickets with the addition of an equal number of runs.
Royal, in return, survived early pressure before 40 brought
misfortune to the Reid Avenue boys. Thanks to early extras gifted by the
Thomians, Royal advanced to 39 without much effort. But from 39 for no
loss, they slumped to 40 for 3 after a disastrous final four overs which
put the Thomians right on top.
The Reid Avenue lads lost three wickets on the trot while on 40 and
ended the day on the same score still needing 180 runs to avoid follow
on with seven wickets in hand. S.THOMAS’ COLLEGE
1st Innings
SHASHREEKA PUSSEGOLLA lbw b. Fernando 6
ASHAN FERNANDO lbw b.Warnakulasuriya 31
ASHAN PEIRIS c. Mowjood b. Ahamed 161
NISHAM MAZAHIR c. F’do b. Thanthirigoda 162
RAVEENTHI NIROSHAN c. Boteju b. Niroshan 8
RUCHIRA DE SILVA lbw b.Thanthirigoda 0
VISHWA WEEREWARDENE run out 0
THILIN NUGAWELA not out 3
EXTRAS: (2lb, 1nb) 3
TOTAL: for 7 wkts. decl. 374
BATTING TIME: 78.1 overs / 314 mts
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-17, 2-83, 3-321,
4-370, 5-371, 6-371,
7-374
BOWLING: Fernando 10-3-35-1; De Silva 8-0-38-0;
Ahamed 6-0-28-1; Abeykoon 9-0-57-0;
Warnakulasuriya 4-0-18-1; Thanthirigoda 14.1-0-47-2;
Rajapakse 1-0-5-0; Boteju 13-0-95-0,
Mowjood 13-0-49-1.
ROYAL COLLEGE
1st Innings
KAVISHKA DE SILVA st. Weerawardene b. Pussegolle 5
DIRAN WARNAKULASURIYA c. Nugawela b. Fernando 15
FEROZE AHAMED not out 0
MANEESHA THANTHIRIGODA c. Niroshan b. Fernando 0
BANUKA RAJAPAKSE not out 0
EXTRAS: (7lb, 5 lb, 7 nb, 1w) 20
TOTAL: for 3 wkts at close 40
TO BAT: Haroon Mowjood, Dilan Nanayakkara,
Kusal Perera, Charith Chathuranga,
Yasith Abeykoon, Kanishka Boteju
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-40, 2-40, 3-40
BOWLING: (to date) De Silva 5-2-5-0; Walpita 4-0-11-0;
Mazahir 2-0-7-0; D. Fernando 4-3-4-2;
Pussegolla 3-2-1-1.
|
