By Ishani Upatharitha
[caption id="attachment_133272" align="aligncenter" width="881"] The champion St. Joseph’s U-19 cricket team celebrate their victory over Royal yesterday (1 May)[/caption]St. Joseph’s College, Colombo emerged champions of the All-island Inter-school Under-19 Div. I Tier A cricket tournament, conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) under the auspices of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) yesterday (1 May) at NCC grounds, Colombo. The Joes beat Royal College, Colombo, an unbeaten team in the entire tournament up to the final, by 97 runs in the grand finale of the main annual inter-school limited-over tournament yesterday.
St. Joseph’s won the toss and elected to bat first. They scored 287/5 in their 50 overs. Left-handed Shevon Daniel made an unbeaten 146 off 133 balls with six boundaries and nine sixes. Sheran Fonseka (38), Mithira Thenura (34), Dunith Wellalage (30), and Sadeesh Jayawardena (25) also chipped in for the Joes. Daniel and Fonseka shared a vital 136 runs for the second wicket for them.
Royal, in their reply, were bowled out for 190 in 40.2 overs. Kavindu Pathirathne made 59 and Sineth Jayawardhane struck 40. Skipper Ahan Wickramasinghe (37) and Prashan Kalhara (19) too batted well, yet in vain. Jayawardhane and Wickaramasinghe also shared 71 for the third wicket.
Lahiru Amarasekara took 4/45 while Deshan Senevirathne and Dunith Wellalalage took two wickets each.
Chinthaka Edirimanna, Head of Domestic Cricket - SLC, Thilak Watthuhewa, President – SLSCA and Principal of Richmond College, Galle, Rev. Fr. Ranjith Andradi, Rector of St. Joseph’s, J.A.K.S. Indrajith, Secretary – SLSCA, and Manjula Vaz, Treasurer – SLSCA, participated at the awards ceremony.
Scores:
St. Joseph’s: 287/5 (50) (Shevon Daniel 146 n.o., Sheran Fonseka 38, Mithira Thenura 34, Dunith Wellalage 30, Sadeesh Jayawardena 25; Prashan Kalhara 1/31, Sonal Amarasekara 1/55)
Royal: 190 (40.2) (Kavindu Pathirathne 59, Sineth Jayawardhane 40, Ahan Wickramasinghe 37, Prashan Kalhara 19; Lahiru Amarasekara 4/45, Deshan Senevirathne 2/12, Dunith Wellalalage 2/50).