- 62nd Battle of the Brothers; first ever 3-day encounter
- 7th win for the lads from Thurstan Road
Thurstan College ran riot at the Singhalese Sports Club Grounds as they safely retained the Blackham Wijewardene Memorial Trophy in Colombo 7 for yet another year by securing a thumping 10-wicket victory against Isipathana College at the 62nd annual Battle of the Brothers Big Match encounter yesterday (23) which went into history books as the first-ever 3-day match to be held in the series which began in 1964. The Pathana Greens last tasted a big match victory way back in 1999 under Krishantha Jayawardena. Thurstan’s last win came in 2019 under Sandaru Dias.
The Thurstanites were red-hot favourites at the end of Day-2 with a result looming in the air as they completely took control of the game. Rachintha de Silva and Sethru Fernando ran havoc with the ball as they shared 11 wickets amongst them to completely dismantle the Isipathana batting department. Last year’s skipper and Junior National cap Vihas Thewmika bagged a total of 5 wickets. Tail-ender Janitha Rukshan shone with the bat for the winners scoring a sublime 77 in the crucial moments.
On Friday (21) Thurstan skipper Thanuga Palihawadana won the toss and opted to bowl first. Lesandu Kalpage’s Isipathana outfit were bowled out for 203. Chanul Dinoth (vc) top scored with 40. Right arm medium-pace bowler for Thurstan, Rachintha De Silva who tattered the Pathana batters by claiming a memorable 6 wickets. Last year’s skipper Vihas Thewmika took 2 wickets. In reply at stumps on Day-1 Thurstanites were 23 for no loss.
Batting on Day-2 on Saturday (22) Thurstan made a declaration at 257/9 with tail-ender Janitha Rukshan scoring a match saving 77. Pathum Dananjaya coming in the mid-order added a valuable 42 whilst opener Dinal Induwara also added 42. For Pathana Menula Dambakumbura was the pick of the bowlers on Day-2 bagging 5 wickets along with Mohamed Asjad taking 3. At stumps on Day-2, Isipathana College trailed by 54 runs. Their opening Navindu Hettiarachchige and Ruchith Rodrigo started Day-3 with heavy responsibility on their shoulders. However their partnership was broken at 20 runs when the star of the final day Sethru Fernando started his shattering Pathana hearts. Later the ‘Green Machine’ batsmen fell like a pack of cards as they were bowled out for a paltry 104 with Ranmith Senarath fighting a solo battle to save the lads from Havelock Town with a gritty 41 off 97. The target was set for the Thurstanites, just 51 to win and they eased towards victory in T20 style without losing a wicket as the match was over before tea.
The 18th T20 encounter – ‘Priya Paranavitana Challenge Trophy’ is on 2 March at Colts Grounds whilst the 45th Limited-over game for the ‘W.A. De Silva Memorial Trophy’ will be held on 9 March at the P. Sara Oval.
Scorecards on Day-3
Isipathana 2nd Innings
Navindu Hettiarachchi c b Sethru F’do 10
Ruchith Rodrigo (wk) b Sethru F’do 11
Maleesha Sadaruwan c T. Rajapakse b Sethru F’do 21
Ranmith Senarath c L. Punsara b Sethru F’do 41
Lesandu Kalpage (c) c Dinal Induwara b Sethru F’do 3
Chanul Dinoth c T. Rajapakse b V. Thewmika 4
Mohamed Asjad c S. Rathnasiri b V. Thewmika 0
Dushan Malinga b V. Thewmika 0
Dasith Perera LBW b T. Palihawadana 1
Dimuthu Tharuka run out Palihawadana b Sethru F’do 5
Menula Dambakumbura not out 1
Extras : 7
Total - 104/10 (51.3) & 203/10 (1st Innings)
Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Ruchith Rodrigo,9.1 ov), 2-35 (Navindu Hettiarachchige,13.4 ov), 3-43 (Maleesha Sandaruwan,15.5 ov), 4-55 (Lesandu Kalpage,23.3 ov), 5-68 (Chanul Dinoth,27.6 ov), 6-70 (Mohomed Asjad,31.2 ov), 7-70 (Dushan Malinga,31.4 ov), 8-95 (Ranmith Senarath,39.6 ov), 9-95 (Dasith Senal,40.4 ov), 10-104 (Dimuthu Tharaka,51.3 ov)
Bowling : Sethru Fernando (17.3-7-34-5), Vihas Thewmika (12-5-33-3), Thanuga Palihawadana (10-2-14-1)
Thurstan 2nd Innings
Dinal Induwara Not Out 38
Tanuja Rajapakse (wk) Not Out 16
Extras : 0
Total - 54/0 (7.4) & 257/9d (1st Innings)
Result : Thurstan College won by 10 wickets
Battle of the Brothers – Tally
Played – 62
Drawn – 50
Not played – 1
Thurstan wins – 7
Isipathana wins – 4