Despite a fighting 74 by Devin Jayasinghe:

Chamika strikes as Thomians shot out for 192

By Dinesh WEERAWANSA @ SSC grounds Colombo 07

Royal bowlers rallied round their captain's decision to field first as S. Thomas’ were bowled out for 192 on the opening day of their 134th Battle of the Blues three-day cricket encounter which begun at SSC grounds, Colombo yesterday. Royal were 11 for no loss in their first innings when heavy rain brought a premature end, robbing at least 80 minutes of playing time.

The day belonged to Royal fast bowler Chamika Karunaratne, whose outstanding bowling performance with a five-wicket haul put his rival batsmen all at sea, and Thomian middle order batsman Devin Jayasinghe who partially saved his side after a shock start. Karunaratne became the first Royal bowler to capture five wickets or more in an innings in 20 years after Nalliah Rajan's 5 for 76 in 1993.

Royal skipper Devind Pathmanathan won an important toss last morning and did not hesitate in inviting Thomians to take the first lease of a wicket that appeared to have lots of runs on it. But Royal pacemen, led by Karunaratne, made the best use of the early life of the wicket as the Thomians went on the defensive right from the start.

Opener Deelaka Herath was the first to go when their total was on 14, bowled by Karunaratne for six. But the biggest blow towards a disastrous Thomian innings was the departure of captain Javed Bongso, who was trapped leg before by Karunaratn for 5. Two lightning strikes by Karunaratne let the Thomian batsmen struggle for runs before No. 4 batsman Devin Jayasinghe took up the challenge.

The only bright spot in the Thomian innings, which otherwise appeared to be miserable, was that fighting knock of 74 by Jayasinghe. Having walked in at a crucial time when the Thomians were reeling at 20 for 2 after just 35 minutes of batting, with the exit of their skipper Bongso, Jayasinghe played a responsible innings in a determined attempt to rebuild the S. Thomas’ innings.

He was lucky to capitalise on the chances that came towards his way to take gradual control of Royal bowlers. His sparkling knock of 74 came off 107 balls and included five boundaries and three sixers, occupying the middle for 160 minutes. He scored his 50 in just 68 balls in 104 minutes. Jayasinghe hit part-time spinner Sampath de Silva for a huge six over long off. Four overs later, Jayasinghe hit Poorna Authge over cover boundary for another magnificent six. However, even the little hopes the Thomians had of putting up a challenging total was shattered when Jayasinghe completely misjudged in attempting to sweep an off break from Poorna Aluthge. Royal wicket keeper Milan Abeysekera made no mistake with the stumping as Jayasinghe departed when the total was on 157.

No. 7 batsman Helakamal Nanayakkara, who scored a patient 24 off 78 balls to add 66 valuable runs for the sixth wicket with Jayasinghe, departed immediately afterwards as S. Thomas’ lost wickets at regular intervals.

Earlier in the day, S.Thomas reached their 100 runs in 171 balls after 132 minutes of batting. At lunch, the Thmians were 100 for 5 after 29 overs with Jayasinghe on 45 n.o and Helakamal Nanayakkara yet to open his account. Jayasinghe signalled his half century with a cover boundary.

Though Royal's strength in bowling lied mainly with their spin department, it was the pace of Chamika Karunaratne that troubled Thomian batsmen the most. However, full credit should go to the Royal bowling attack, led by quick bowler Karunaratne - the youngest of the four Karunaratne brothers in sport, which includes Sri Lanka Olympic shuttler Niluka Karunaratne. Royal's opening bowler finished with 5 for 55 before an injury forced him to leave the field with the Thomian last pair in.

Spinner Aluthge increased his season's tally to 61 with two important wickets he captured - that of opener Nipuna Gamage and the top scorer for Thomians - Jayasinghe.

The Thomian last pair of Ravindu Tillakratne and Ishan Kularatne extended their inning by a further 52 minutes as Royal bowlers desperately looked for a breakthrough. Tillakaratne, son of former Sri Lanka captain Hashan Tillakaratne, recalled patient yesteryear innings of his father, in making 26 not out off 87 balls in 109 minutes with four boundaries.

Though the scheduled tea time break was extended as the Thomian last pair was in, Royal failed to put the finishing touches for otherwise a job well done. At tea, S. Thomas’ were 192 for 9 after 71 overs of batting.

The commencement of the second day's play has been advanced to 9.45 a.m. today to catch up on lost time.

S.THOMAS' COLLEGE  1st Innings
 
Deelaka Herath b. Karunaratne 			 6
Nipuna Gamage c. Karunaratne b. Aluthge		19
Javed Bognso lbw b. Karunaratne			 5
Devin Jayasinghe st. Abeysekera b. Aluthge	74
Thilaksha Sumanasiri run out			17                 
Sanesh De Mel b. Karunaratne			 1
Helakamal Nanayakkara b. Tillakaratne	 	24
Madushan Ravichandrakumar b. Karunaratne	 1
Ravindu Tillakaratne not out			26
Sahan Wijesinghe c. Abeysekera b. Karunaratne	 4
Ishan Kularatne  c. S.de Silva b. Pathmanathan	 1
Extras: (8 lb, 2 w, 4 nb)			14
Total: all out					192
Batting time: 73.1 overs, 309 mts.
Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Herath), 2-20 (Bongso), 3-52 (Gamage), 4-88 (Sumanasiri), 5-92 (De Mel), 
6-157 (Jayasighe),7-158 (Nanayakkara), 8-160 (Ravichandrakumar), 9- 183 (Wijesinghe), 10-192 (Kularatne).
Bowling: Karunaratne 19.1-3-55-5, Tilakaratne 6-3-12-1, Aluthge 7-4-44-2, Ramanayake 8-1-25-0, 
Samarasinghe 7-2-14-0, Pathmanathan 14-5-23-1, De Silva 2-0-11-0
 
 ROYAL COLLEGE 
1ST INNINGS
 
Roanaka Ahangamage not out 	8
Isuru Gunatillake not out 	1
Extras: (2nb)	 		2
Total:  for no wicket  		11
Batting time: 1.2 overs, 8 mts.
To Bat: Devin Pathmanathan, Milan Abeysekera, Heshan Karunamuni, Chamika Karunaratne, 
Poorna Aluthge, Sampath De Silva, Anupa Tillakaratne, Heshan Ramanayake, Harith Samarasinghe.
Bowling: Wijesinghe 1-0-9-0, Kularatne 0.2-0-2-0