Rajapakse leads Royalists' charge

St Thomas College 181 for 9 (Rajapaksha 3-27) trail Royal College 300 for 9 dec by 119 runs
Scorecard

St Thomas College's batsmen struggled on the second day at the SSC but, unlike Royal College on the first day, there were no saviours.

Apart from an 81-run partnership between Jehan Thahir, the captain, and Ashan Fernando the other batsmen didn't put up much of a fight. The Thomians slid from a solid 81 for 1 to 104 for 5 and didn't recover from there on.

This is probably the first instance in the history of the Battle of the Blues that extras ending up as the top scorer in an innings. The Thomians just managed to avoid the follow-on, ending the day on 181 for 8. This was after two hours' play was lost.

Bhanuka Rajapakse, the right-arm fast bowler, put the Royalists on top with a three-wicket haul. The spin duo of Haroon Mowjood and Kanishka Boteju snared four wickets between them to complement Rajapakse's fine burst. The Thomians lost 4 for 37 in 22 overs and were struggling at 141 for 9 at one stage.

The Thomians could have easily slipped behind the follow-on mark if a run-out chance had been taken but the last pair of Dinesh Walpita and Nilshan Fernando made the most of the reprieve with a stubborn 40-run stand.