St. Joseph’s College and Mahinda College clinched the Division One Tier ‘A’ and Tier ‘B’ titles respectively to conclude the current Inter-Schools Under-19 cricket season in great style.
In fact, the Josephians retained the Tier ‘A’ title for the third successive year while defeating Royal College by 97 runs and Mahinda won the Tier ‘B’ title with an exciting three-wicket win over Devapathiraja College, Rathgama.
Even then, St. Joseph’s success could be considered as one of the best achievements by a First XI team this season as they went into the final as complete underdogs. In contrast, Royal had a superb track record going into the final and looked confident of finishing the season on a high note with some experienced players in their line-up.
However, the final quite surprisingly turned out to an anticlimax as Royal surrendered the match quite meekly against a vastly improved Josephian outfit. The lads from Darley Road seem to have done their homework well and they knew exactly what was expected from each player, which made their task much easier.
The turning point for St. Joseph’s in this tournament was the semi-final win over Trinity College where their openers, Sadeesh Jayawardana and Sheran Fonseka figured in an unbroken century partnership. From there onwards the Joes believed that they could win this title even though they did not mind going into the final as the underdogs.
They made good use of winning the toss and batting first to pile up a match winning total of 287 for five from their 50 overs with Shevon Daniel stroking a magnificent 146 not out.
The elegant left-hand middle order batsman dropped anchor from the moment he came into the crease and went on to complete his second hundred for the current season.
Royal of course have always done well while chasing targets this season but this time the target was much bigger and they really succumbed to their opponents under pressure.
The writing was on the wall for Royal from the moment they lost their Captain and inform batsman Ahan Wickramasinghe cheaply and they were very much behind the required rate despite a fighting half-century from all-rounder Kavindu Pathiratne.
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| Mahinda College celebrate with the Trophy |
Mahinda vs Devapathiraja
Mahinda College concluded the season with a three-wicket win over Devapathiraja College in the Tier ‘B’ Tournament final played at the NCC Grounds in Maitland Place.
The Mahindians started the final as the favourites and they lived upto that reputation by producing a fine all-round performance against their less fancied opponents.
Even then, Mahinda will be somewhat disappointed that they could not win the final more convincingly after having dominated the tournament from the first-round onwards.
Their batsmen made a complete mess of it while chasing a modest target of 99 runs and lost seven wickets before they eventually overtook their opponents score in the 36th over.
The Mahinda bowlers did a tremendous job to skittle out Devapathiraja for less than 100 runs with Osindu Kavindya, Navod Paranavithana and Subanu Rajapaksa continuing their excellent form.
However, their batsmen gave a pathetic display and almost threw away their chances before some intelligent batting from the late order saved them from near humiliation.
Therefore, Devapathiraja could be really pleased with their performances in the final because they were able to make a match out of it despite their dismal batting display.
St. John’s vs Sri Sumangala
Sri Sumangala College, Panadura clinched the Division Two Tier ‘A’ Championship when they trounced home town rivals St. John’s College by six wickets in the final played at the BRC Grounds.
This final of course turned out to be a completely one sided contest as St. John’s were shot out for a mere 68 runs in less than 35 overs.
Opening bowler Charuka Jayathilaka did the early damage with a three-wicket burst before spinner Vishwa Lahiru took over the latter stages to finish with an excellent five-wicket haul.
Sri Sumangala then raced to their target in less than 20 overs to complete a resounding victory in the end despite losing both openers cheaply.
Sri Jayewardenepura MV vs Royal, Panadura
Sri Jayewardenepura MV came from behind with a magnificent performance to snatch a thrilling five-run win over Royal College, Panadura in the Division Two Tier ‘B’ Tournament final worked off at the BRC Grounds.
Sri Jayewardenepura MV were heading towards a heavy defeat after they were bowled out for a disappointing 136 runs in 46.1 overs.
However, their bowlers made amends and hit back strongly to turn a certain defeat into a memorable triumph by dismissing their opponents for 131 runs in 46.3 overs.
Sri Jayewardenepura MV used as many as eight bowlers in a desperate attempt to contain the opposition and it was Denuwan Jayawardena who eventually struck form with a four-wicket haul.
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