Sanjika steers St Servatius to six wicket win

Priyan de Silva - Matara Sports correspondent

St Servatius College, Matara registered a six wicket win against Maliyadewa College, Kurunegala in their under 19 division one game at the Uyanwatta stadium on Tuesday (29th). Maliyadewa skipper Tineth Manishka opted to bat first in the the under 19 division one

tournament group B game. The visitors lost wickets at regular intervals to end their first innings at 136 with Keshan Wijerathna scoring 44 runs. Sanjika Ridma 4/30, Chalanaka Weerasinghe 2/17 and Lochana Mohotti 2/20 bowled well. The Servatians were dismissed for 150 runs with Sanjika Ridma was unlucky to miss his half ton by a run. Chandima Bandara captured 3/45.

Maliyadewa were restricted to 127 runs in their second essay with young Damith Perera topping the score card with 27. Spinners Sanjika Ridma 4/23 and Ashen Deemantha 3/21 were rewarded for their bowling.

With a victory target of 114 runs to be scored in a minimum of sixteen overs the home team took up the challenge with openers Yohan Chanuka 58 in 32 balls with nine boundaries and Ramesh Nimantha 37 in 33 balls with three boundaries leading the onslaught and shared a 83 run partnership for the first wicket in nine overs. The winning target was reached with 15 balls to spare and six wickets in hand.

The presence of Sri Lanka Cricket's southern province coach Niroshan Bandarathillake on the final day of the game should be noted.

Maliyadewa: 136 in 50 overs - (Keshan Wijerathna 44, Tineth Manishka 25, Rasanjana Jayarathna 24, Sanjika Ridma 4/30, Chalanaka Weerasinghe 2/17, Lochana Mohotti 2/20) and 127 in 60.3 overs - (Damith Perera 27, Tharuka Rajaguru 26, Sanjika Ridma 4/23, Ashen Deemantha 3/21)

St Servatius: 150 in 52.4 overs - (Sanjika Ridma 49, Gihan Nimsara 22, Vidath Dilshan 20, Chandima Bandara 3/45, Kusal de Silva 2/10, Sarinda Dassanayaka 2/18) and 117/4 in 13.3 overs - (Yohan Chanuka 58, Ramesh Nimantha 37not out, Tharuka Rajaguru 2/23, Chandima Bandara 2/26)