Wesley College defeated Ananda College by four wickets in their inter school first two-day XI tournament fixture at Campbell Park recently.
The double blues recorded an outright win against the Anandians after a lapse of 45 years in a game which went down to the last over. Wesley’s last win came in the 1980/81 season under captain Navin de Silva at a time where Arjuna Ranatunga was playing for Ananda.
Wesley’s Dinuja Samararathne got a match bag of nine wickets and Adhyan Zian bagged six.
Kithma Withanapathirana, the Ananada skipper won the toss and elected to bat first and posted 266 in the first innings with Danindu Sellaperuma top scoring with 84. Lithma Perera scored 57. Nethula Edirimanne was unlucky to miss out on a half century being caught at 47. Left-arm spinner Samararathne was the pick of the bowlers for Wesley with a fine spell of 5/31. Zian took 2/31.
Wesley skipper Rashmika Amararathne’s composed knock of 94 off 204 deliveries came to an unfortunate end depriving a well-deserved century for the lads from Campbell Park against their opponents in decades. Vice-Captain Sehandu Athauda missed his half century at 45. Withanapathirana scalped 4 wickets.
Wesley’s spin duo Samararathne and Zian later rattled Ananda picking four wickets each in the second innings restricting the visitors for 99 which set a target of 111 in 13 overs for the men in blue. Rasheed Al Nahyan top scored with 41 setting the pace for victory. Skipper Amararathne scored the winning run to etch a memorable victory at home.
Brief scores:
Ananda: 266/10 (66.1 Ov) – Danindu Sellaperuma 84, Lithma Perera scored 57, Nethula Edirimanne 47, Dinuja Samararathne 5/31, Adhyan Zian 2/31 & 99/10 - Nethula Edirimanne 32, Danindu Sellaperuma 26, Adhyan Zian 4/18, Dinuja Samararathne 4/38
Wesley: 255/10 (77.4 Ov) – Rashmika Amararathne 94, Sehandu Athauda 45, Kavindu Hettiarachchi 30, Kithma Withanapathirana 4/72, Himira Kudagama 3/36 & 111/6 (12.2 Ov) – Rasheed Al Nahyan 41, Senura Thilaksiri 20, Shamma J Fernando 19
Result: Wesley College won by 4 wickets