Royal shatter Ananda’s unbeaten record

Chris Dhambarage

Royal College shattered Ananda’s reputation and their unbeaten record this season with a historic outright victory in their annual inter-school under 19 Cricket Tournament match worked off at Ananda Mawatha last week.

Royal’s success by 94 runs in this high profile encounter turned out to be a memorable one as they brought an end to a 24 year long wait having last defeated Ananda College way back in 1985.

The manner in which Royal turned the game in their favour was quite outstanding because they went in as the underdogs and were up against a champion side which had many top players in their ranks.

In fact Royal’s success was in the balance until the final session during which time they played havoc with the Ananda batting which collapsed to 98 runs in the second innings. The first innings of course was evenly contested where Royal managed to snatch a 23 run lead.

Ananda skipper and Sri Lanka youth cap Dinesh Chadimal had the satisfaction of completing one thousand runs for the season during his knock of 77 on the opening day of the match. However his team put up a dismal performance with the bat in the second innings after they were set a challenging victory target of 193 runs.

The experience of Yasith Abeykoon, Haroon Mawjood and Maneesha Thanthirigoda was too hot to handle for the Anandians as they crashed to their first defeat in the current season. Royal’s batting too lived upto expectations with Sahan Hettiarachchi, Kusal Perera and Bhanuka Rajapaksa providing useful contributions under tremendous pressure.

St. Peter’s v Maris Stella

Skipper Angelo Perera celebrated his landmark of completing one thousand runs for the season by leading St. Peter’s College to an easy outright victory over Maris Stella College, Negombo in their inter school under 19 tournament fixture worked off at Bambalapitiya during the weekend.

The Sri Lanka youth player hammered a sparkling unbeaten century to lift his side towards and imposing 368 for 7 in the first innings after bundling out the opposition for a modest 166 runs.

Angelo Perera provided a ruthless batting performance to complete his third hundred for the season while collecting his runs from just 103 deliveries inclusive of four sixes and seventeen boundaries.

The other match winning performance for the Peterites came from Chatura Peiris who has been a consistent wicket taker for his team this year. The dynamic fast bowler ripped through the Maris Stella College batting in the second innings with a four wicket haul including a hattrick following his five wicket burst in the first innings.

St. Joseph’s v S. Thomas

St. Joseph’s College powered their way to an emphatic outright victory over S. Thomas College Mount Lavinia in their 105th annual inter school encounter worked off at Darley Road during the weekend.

Their innings and 26 runs victory had a great amount of significance as they tasted success after a lapse of eleven years in this series played for the Gilmour Jayasuriya memorial trophy.

The Josephians owe their success mainly due to the individual brilliance of skipper Shameera Weerasinghe who made a clean sweep in the special awards winning the best batsman, best bowler and man of the match awards.

Weerasinghe demolished the Thomians almost single handedly with a brilliant century and claiming a matchbag of thirteen wickets.

His knock of 106 came at a vital stage of the innings when St. Joseph’s College were struggling at 84 for 5 at one stage.

However Weerasinghe rallied around through his experience to pull them out of this awful situation as they eventually managed to get closer towards the 250 run mark.

This total turned out to be too much for the Thomians to chase as they folded up for 105 in their first innings.

Leg spinner Weerasinghe was mainly responsible for the damage claiming a six wicket haul and he produced a repeat performance in the second innings to complete a memorable game. S. Thomas’ College just did not have the answer to Weerasinghe›s spin as they collapsed to 117 after been asked to follow on.

Royal v Dharmaraja

Royal College continued with their excellent run of success defeating Dharmaraja College Kandy outright by an innings and 13 runs in their inter school under 19 cricket tournament match worked off at Reid Avenue during the weekend.

This was another fabulous effort from the Royal side who have made winning a habit as they cruised to their seventh outright win and their second in successive outings in the current season.

This time of course their success was always there from the moment they skittle out their opponents for a paltry 64 runs in the first innings. They were minus star player Bhanuka Rajapaksa but yet they were able to wrap up the game quite convincingly.

Royal compiled a formidable 255 in their first innings following half centuries from Kithruwan Vithanage and Hettiarachchi. The bowlers then stuck to their basics and got their act together well with Abeykoon, Randevala, Rambukwella and Thanthirigoda having a superb game.

S. Thomas’ v Wesley

S. Thomas College had the satisfaction of overcoming Wesley College by nine wickets in their annual inter-school under 19 cricket tournament match worked off at Mount Lavinia last week.

The Thomians simply dominated the game on both days as they showed a great amount of improvement in the batting and bowling departments. The other significant fact was their determination and the will to succeed having experienced mixed fortunes in their previous games.

They soon realized the possibility of forcing an outright victory from the moment they bundled out their opponents for 91 runs in the first innings. The Thomians had a game plan in their mind and made a bold declaration at 128 for 3 instead of piling up a big total like some of the other top teams.

Their tactics certainly worked well as they got rid of the Wesleyites for just 79 runs in the second innings to complete a morale boosting victory. Chamal Fonseka and Chamod Pathirana were the chief wreckers while skipper Ravi Nilushan and Faheem Saleem made useful contributions with the bat in this low scoring encounter.

Ananda v St. Anthony’s

St. Anthony’s College and Ananda College figured in a high scoring draw in their inter school under 19 cricket tournament match worked off at Katugastota during the weekend.

Even then the Antonians took major honours as they were able to take a good first innings lead while piling up over three hundred runs in their first innings.

This was a tremendous effort from the home side considering the fact that no team had performed this feat against Ananda this season. But the Antonians were able to perform the near impossibility following good contributions from Yohan Woods, Jerome Siegertsz, Kasun Ekanayake and Kanishka Ranaraja.

This was after Ananda College had made a formidable 283 runs with skipper Dinesh Chandinal and Dewage had completed splendid half centuries. However St. Anthony’s College accepted the challenge and put up a dazzling performance with the bat to reach an impressive 335 in their first innings.

St. Joseph’s v Trinity

Trinity College fought back well to force a draw to their inter school under 19 cricket tournament match against Trinity College Kandy worked off at Darley Road last week.

The Trinitians had their backs to the wall and were under real pressure after they had collapsed to 135 runs in the first innings. But they recovered magnificently and put up an improved performance in the second innings while frustrating the home side.

In fact for St. Joseph’s College this was a missed opportunity as they failed to capitalize from a very good position. They had the game under control having built up a commanding first innings lead but were unable to breakthrough in the second innings.

The Trinity College batsmen survived the last two sessions quite bravely despite going through a testing time and having to face the fearsome pace spin combination of Dinal Dhambarage and skipper Shameera Weerasinghe.

Prince of Wales v Kingswood

Prince of Wales College edged out Kingswood College Kandy on the first innings in their rain effected low scoring inter school under 19 cricket tournament match worked off at Moratuwa last week.

The Kingswoodians batting first were all at sea against some penetrative bowling from Shehan Jayasuriya as they were shot out for just 131 runs in the first innings.

However the Cambrians too found run making difficult and managed to snatch a close first innings lead thanks to useful contributions from Nuwantha Peiris and Dilan Chandima.