The first Big Match for the current Inter-Schools Under-19 cricket season ended in a tame draw at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium in Hambantota.
St. Servatius’ College and St. Thomas’ College shared the honours in the 121st Battle of the Blues, Ruhuna after three days of absorbing cricket between the two leading schools from Matara.
Both teams displayed their batting prowess as the match produced a total of 735 runs including two centurions with the bowlers having a tough time on the field.
Even then, there were a number of positives which both teams would certainly like to take into the next level before they could draw the curtain down for this truncated yet very interesting inter-schools cricket season. That St. Servatius’ recovered from a hopeless 53 for five to reach a healthy first innings total of 253 is one of the most remarkable turnarounds in this encounter.
That was mainly due to the splendid batting of number eight Kushan Wijerama who put some of his more established batsmen to shame with a fighting knock of 70 runs. St. Thomas’ also had a shock start to their innings but they managed to pull things back thanks to the outstanding batting of Hirantha Lakshan.
The right-hand middle order batsman brought up his maiden hundred for the current season in a spectacular manner with the help of one six and 12 boundaries.
The Thomians went on to build up a first innings lead of 59 runs and they were in a position of adding pressure on their opponents in the second innings.
But their hopes of forcing a result were dashed by the batting of Diniru Abeywickramasinghe who grabbed the opportunity to compile a Big Match century in the second innings.
The wicket-keeper batsman of St. Servatius’ stole the limelight during the final session as he frustrated the Thomian bowlers to score an unbeaten 103 from 168 deliveries inclusive of 10 boundaries.
St. Peter’s vs St. Anthony’s
St. Peter’s College snatched a thrilling two-run victory over St. Anthony’s College in a limited over encounter worked off at Bambalapitiya.
The match was turned into a 50-over contest after heavy rain completely washed out the first day of this traditional two-day encounter.
Nevertheless, the match had all the excitement as the Antonians agonisingly fell short by just two runs from overtaking their opponents’ total of 216 runs.
The Peterites believed that they had the game wrapped up once they posted that total largely due to two fighting half-centuries from Wanuja Kumara and Niman Umesh. But St. Anthony’s kept their hopes alive and had the Peterites under pressure until the last delivery before they were dismissed for 214 with Tharindu Lamahewage stroking a fluent half-century.
Sri Jayewardenepura MV vs P. De S. Kularatne MV
Sri Jayewardenepura MV, Kotte moved closer towards winning the Under-19 Division Two Tier ‘B’ Championship when they outplayed P. De S. Kularatne MV, Ambalangoda by 83 runs in the semi-finals worked off at Maggona.
The match of course turned out to be a low-scoring affair but yet Sri Jayewardenepura MV’s modest total of 165 runs was good enough for them to win the game by a convincing margin.
In fact, the P. De S. Kularatne MV innings lasted for just 33.1 overs with Denuwan Jayawardana (3/7) and Janith Akash (2/22) making run-making difficult for the batsmen.
Earlier, Sri Jayewardenepura MV also struggled for runs after they were put into bat but managed to reach 165 largely due to a fighting half-century from Joseph Seneviratne.
Royal, Panadura vs St. Thomas’, Matale
The Under-19 Division Two Tier ‘B’ second semi-final also turned out to be a low-scoring contest with Royal, Panadura coasting to a four-wicket win over St. Thomas’, Matale at the De Soysa Stadium in Moratuwa.
The Thomians laboured the entire 50 overs to compile a modest 141 for nine as Hasantha Warunajith played havoc with their batting to return excellent figures of five for 20. Royal, Panadura in reply took their own time and eventually reached their target in the 42nd over with Jayod Silva playing the anchor role.
St. John’s vs Siri Piyarathana MMV
St. John’s, Panadura produced a fine bowling performance to beat Siri Piyarathana MMV, Padukka by 56 runs in the Under-19 Division Two Tier ‘A’ quarter-finals played at the Galle Stadium.
After they were dismissed for 156 runs, St. John’s fought back magnificently through their bowlers and bowled out their opponents for exactly 100 runs in 39.4 overs.
Tishan Achintha (4/15) and Sumudu Udara (3/10) were the match winners for St. John’s as they picked up wickets at regular intervals through some accurate bowling.
Earlier, St. John’s managed to post a respectable 156 runs, largely due to some valuable contributions from Amila Thuruwan (31), Chathushka Shamod (26) and Yasiru Sandeepa (23).
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