Ananda notch up their eighth win

School Cricket Review

Chris Dhambarage

Ananda College powered their way to another emphatic victory while overcoming S. Thomas› College Mount Lavinia by five wickets in a key inter-school under 19 cricket tournament fixture worked off at Ananda Mawatha during the week-end.

Their success had a great amount of significance considering the fact that this was their eighth outright victory and their sixth in a row for the current season. The Anandians seem to have made winning a habit this year as they completed their task with just two deliveries to spare.

Even then their success was in the balance at one stage and went through some anxious moments following a superb fight back from the Thomians. The first occasion was when they collapsed to 87 for 6 in reply to S. Thomas’ first innings total of 126 runs.

The Anandians certainly threw away a great chance of building up a good first innings lead through some irresponsible batting after their bowlers had done another splendid job on the field. They eventually managed to take a 31 runs lead which in fact turned out to be a vital factor at the end.

The second occasion the Anandians were in trouble was when they set about their task in chasing a target of 96 runs from a maximum of 13 overs. This was no doubt a tough task because they needed to score more then seven runs per over under fading light.

But they reached their target eventually thanks to an unbeaten 43 from Prabodha Seneviratne. The real matchwinner for Ananda was of course their left arm spinner Matheesha Perera who finished with a matchbag of eleven wickets.

Trinity v Dharmaraja

Trinity College continued with their excellent form as they cruised to their fifth outright victory this season while overcoming their home town rivals Dharmaraja College by seven wickets in their annual encounter worked off at the Asgiruya Stadium in Kandy last week.

The Trinitians put up another magnificent show as they bowled out the Rajans for under two hundred runs in both innings following a tremendous spell of bowling from skipper Rushan Jaleel who had a matchbag of nine wickets.

The off spinner has been a consistent wicket taker this season as he increased his tally to 57 wickets in the current inter school season. In addition opener Dilan Gangoda had the satisfaction of crossing the five hundred run mark during his unbeaten half century in the second innings.

St. Anthony’s v Mahanama

St. Anthony’s College notched up their fourth outright victory this season as they outplayed Mahanama College by nine wickets in their inter school under 19 cricket tournament match played at Katugastota during the weekend.

The architect behind the Antonian success was their left arem spinner Adil Reyal who returned a matchbag of eight wickets in addition to his contribution with the bat. The home side amassed a formidable 263 for 7 in their first innings with Mahinda Perera hitting a top score of 75.

Mahanama College folded up for 141 in reply and were forced to follow on and performed better to reach over two hundred runs in their second attempt. However St. Anthony’s College had plenty of time to reach their target and completed their task with five overs to spare.

Ananda v Richmond

Ananda College proved too strong for Richmond College Galle who succumbed to an innings defeat in their inter school cricket tournament match worked off at Ananda Mawatha last week. Ananda’s success was always there from the moment they bundled out their opponents for a paltry 105 runs in their first innings. Left arm spinner Matheesha Perera turned out to be the main destroyer as he mesmerised the Richmond batsmen with a deadly spell of bowling.

The visitors folded up for 96 runs in their second innings after Ananda had built up a commanding lead of 109 runs.

Royal v St. Joseph’s

The 112th annual inter school cricket encounter between Royal College and St. Joseph’s College ended in an exciting draw at Darley Road during the weekend.

Although Royal dominated the opening day and the first two sessions of the second day the Josephians had the final laugh as they fell short by just 33 runs from pulling off an extra ordinary victory.

They had been at the receiving end for most of the time and their unbeaten record too was in danger at one stage when they had to bat the final session for survival.

However they almost made it a memorable period of two hours with a tremendous batting performance that surprised their opponents.

In fact Royal College would have somewhat regretted for having declared their second innings at 188 for 7 because the Joes made a fine attempt to make a match of it and they would have certainly reached their target had there been a couple of extra overs remaining.

Royal of course had all the reasons to close their second innings early in anticipation that the Josephians would collapse for the second time in the match. In fact St. Joseph’s had made only 135 runs in their first attempt while conceding a lead of 37 runs.

But Royal found run making difficult in the second innings too following some inspired bowling from skipper Shameera Weerasinghe and Trishen Rajasuriya. In the first innings too they struggled a bit and were rescued by a fighting half century from Kithruwan Withanage.

Wesley v Kingswood

Wesley College put up a pleasing performance to force a creditable draw to their annual inter school cricket encounter against traditional rivals Kingswood College played for the P. H. Nonis Trophy at the University grounds in Peradeniya.

The Wesleyites who had been at the receiving end against most opponents this season came out with an improved batting performance to match the Kingswoodians after having made a poor start to their run chase.

Wesley College were in trouble at 39 for 3 but recovered magnificently thanks to some valuable contributions from Javith Bongso, Dulanjan Wijesinghe and Dinuwan Dissanayake.

This performance completely shattered Kingswood›s hopes of enforcing the follow on after having piled up an impressive 282 runs in their first innings.

Their total was built around a superb 137 from Udara Hettige who played the sheet anchor role with his solid technique and temperament.

The match also turned out to be a significant one for Kingswood College skipper and off spinner Chalitha Dharmaprema who completed fifty wickets for the current season.

St. Peter’s v Prince of Wales

St. Peter’s College had to settle with a draw in their inter school cricket tournament match against Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa worked off at Bambalapitiya during the weekend.

The Peterites who took the field fresh after their triumph against St. Sebastian’s College last week were set for a repeat performance when they rattled up over three hundred runs in their first innings in even time.

The Peterite run machines Angelo Perera, Denham Perera and Akshu Fernando all were in good nick as they exploited the Cambrian bowling attack to the maximum with some significant contributions.

However Prince of Wales were equal to the task as they also put up a splendid batting performance to pile up a formidable total. Although they could not get closer towards their opponents total they were able to apply a great amount of pressure and add concern into the Peterite bowling attack.

Isuru Fernando led the run spree for the Cambrians with a top score of 63 and he was joined by Malshan Fernando, Thilina Chandima, Isuru Thilina and Shehan Dhammalage with useful contributions.

St. Sebastian’s v Thurstan

St. Sebastian’s College came out with an improved performance to force a draw to their inter school cricket tournament match against Thurstan College worked off at Moratuwa dung the weekend.

The match turned out to be a high scoring one with Thurstan College piling up over three hundred runs after the Sebastianites had reached a formidable 270 in their first innings. Thurstan›s run chase was spearheaded by their openers Indika Massalage and Shehan Kamaleen who put on a superb 137 in almost even time.

Earlier St. Sebastian’s College did well to reach 270 largely due to a fine effort from opener Anuk de Alwis who unfortunately missed out a century by a solitary run.

St. Joseph’s v St. Benedict’s

St. Joseph’s College went through some anxious moments before taking major honours in their annual inter school cricket encounter against St. Benedict’s College worked off at Darley Road last week.

Their opening match in the newly laid turf almost turned out to be a disaster as their top order batsmen failed to deliver the goods while chasing a modest total of 179 runs.

They were eventually rescued by the last pair of Rosco Tatil and Dinal Dhambarage who fought bravely to put on 90 runs that enabled them to take a first innings lead.

Dilanka Auwardt had earlier ripped through the Josephian top order with another tantalizing spell of bowling which was one of the highlights in this encounter.

D.S. Senanayake v Prince of Wales

D.S. Senanayake College and Prince of Wales College figured in a high scoring draw in their inter school cricket tournament match worked off at Moratuwa last week.

The most significant fact in this game was that both teams had the satisfaction of scoring over three hundred runs with one two innings been completed. The Cambrians of course managed to take a slender two run first innings lead by dismissing their opponents for 314.