St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa and S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia recorded outright wins in their recently concluded Under-19 Division I Tier-A Schools Cricket tournament games.
St. Sebastian’s College proved too strong for Royal College in their opening U19 Division I schools cricket tournament fixture at Moratuwa. St. Sebastian’s College added more quick runs to their overnight score in the 2nd morning of the game. With their skipper reaching his century Sebastian’s middle order decided to cut loose and make the run scoring as fast as possible even though the wickets kept tumbling in regular intervals. The hosts managed to put on a huge total of 369 runs for the loss of 9 wickets before their declaration.
This traditional/tournament is the 69th encounter played since 1944 and Royal heads the tally with 21 wins whilst the Sebs clinched their 7th win. Sebastianites last beat Royalists in 2012 under Amila Aponso while Royalists won under Yasith Abeykoon in 2009.
This is the first game of the first XI season 2024/25 for St. Sebastian's under the captaincy of Ryan Dissanayake. Royal is led by Ramiru Perera this year where they opened their season with a win over D.S.Senanayake College last week.
Medium pacer Anush Polonowita was the pick of the bowlers for the Royalists, taking 4 wickets. Left-arm spinner Yenula Bandara also contributed by claiming 3 wickets after bowling a large number of overs.
Royal College, in an attempt to reduce the lead created by the hosts, struggled with the bat in their second innings. They were restricted to just 139 runs by the Sebastainite bowlers, led by their premier spinner Malintha Silva, who claimed 4 wickets, making it 8 wickets in the match for him. Silva’s outstanding performance handed St. Sebastian’s a victory by an innings and 8 runs, making a strong statement that they are a force to be reckoned with this season going forward.
Brief Scores:
Royal College – Colombo 222 (64.1) Yasindu Dissanayake 86, Shane Abeyratne 59, Isula Geeganage 32, Malintha Silva 4/59, Koshendra Silva 3/58 & 139 (47.3) Dushen Udawela 36, Ramiru Perera 26, Mlaintha Silva 4/41, Koshendra Fernando 2/29
St. Sebastian’s College – Moratuwa 369/9d (68.2) Ryan Dissanayaka 106, Ushen Silva 89, Kaveesha Perera 53, Anush Polonowita 4/10, Yenula Bandara 3/90
Result: St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa won by an inning and 8 runs
At Big Club Ground Mt. Lavinia, S. Thomas’ College made a comeback into the game after a disastrous day-one and went on to win the game by 33 runs against St. Anthony’s College Kandy. Thomians being behind 30 runs in the 1st innings resumed their second innings on the second day with their overnight score at 27 runs for the loss of 1 wicket. With the help of a blistering 46 from Mithila Charles down the order the Thomians posted 126 on the board, setting the visitors a target of just 97 runs.
This traditional fixture dates back to over a century with its beginnings in the year 1916.
The Antonians were in huge trouble from the word go as the fresher Aaron De Silva was causing the visitors all sorts of problems with his crafty left-arm spin. De Silva scalped 6/27. Ultimately the Antonian ‘Eagles’ fell 33 runs short of the target.
S. Thomas’ College – Mt. Lavinia 99 (42.2) Dineth Goonawardene 31, Avinash Fernando 21, Charuka Ekanayake 4/27, Dinura Ganegoda 2/16 & 126 (53.1) Mithila Charles 46, Charuka Ekanayake 5/65, Imeth Rajapaksha 3/13
St. Anthony’s College – Kandy 129 (39.1) Kaushika Kumarasinghe 33, Sanuka Kalpana 31, Abheeth Paranawidana 5/42, Anshane De Silva 2/6 & 63 (27.4) Charuka Ekanayake 27, Aaron De Silva 6/27, Anshane De Silva 2/9
Result – S. Thomas’ College won by 33 runs
(Article sourced by ThePapare Cricket)