Sri Lanka: Royal, STC enjoy a good weekend (22 January 1999)

22 January 1999

Sri Lanka: Royal, STC enjoy a good weekend

Chris Dhambarage

Traditional rivals Royal and S. Thomas' College enjoyed one of their best weekends dominating their respective inter school matches worked off last week.

Royal had the satisfaction of enforcing the follow on against Nalanda at Reid Avenue while the Thomians were just two wickets away from a certain victory when bad light halted play in their game against St. Benedict's at Mount Lavinia.

The Royal pace duo Harshana Rajakaruna and Fazal Ahamed were in tremendous form as they pushed the Nalandians on the defensive with some real hostile bowling. Rajakaruna in particular has been among the wickets this season and lived upto expectations as their main strike bowler. He in fact had a matchbag of nine wickets in the earlier match against Dharmaraja played at the same venue.

Royal's batting too seem to have clicked well and most of their top order batsmen are getting runs at the correct time. Skipper Thushan Amarasuriya has led the way and scored consecutive half centuries in his last three innings. He compiled twin fifties in the match against Dharmaraja and has received good support from Ravi Peiris, Malinda Thotuvilage and Jehan Mubarak.

The Thomians could consider themselves really unfortunate as bad light prevented them from a certain victory against St. Benedict's College at Mount Lavinia. They bowled out the opposition for just 90 runs and then had them struggling at 76 for 8 in their second innings.

The Thomians went for quick runs and declared their first innings at 175 for 5 with G. Fernando compiling a superb half century. They kept the pressure on throughout the second innings too and picked up wickets at regular intervals. Sri Lanka youth cap Naren Ratwatte and R. Gunawardena both bowled splendidly and were rewarded for their consistency.

The Nalandians had a disappointing week and did not perform well in their previous game too against Thurstan at the NCC grounds, Maitland Place.

They were bowled out for a dismal 101 runs in their first innings and were fortunate to settle down with a draw at the end. Thurstan probably threw away a good chance of forcing a victory following a sensational collapse in their second innings. They just could not consolidate their position after having taken a good first innings lead on the opening day.

However the Nalandians hit back strongly, dismissing the opposition for 132 runs in their second innings. This was a tremendous performance with Pradeep Hadigalla and K. Gunawardena leading their fight back.

Meanwhile, St. Sebastian's College suffered a minor setback when they were dismissed for a paltry 139 runs against D. S. Senanayake played at Moratuwa. But the Sebastianites recovered well in their second attempt with an improved batting performance on the second day.

D. S. Senanayake however took major honours with Muditha Maduwantha stroking a fluent half century. His knock of 86 laid the foundation for a good first innings total and also helped his team take a crucial first innings lead of 99 runs. But the home side batted more determinedly in their second essay with Manoj Fernando and Suranga de Silva scoring unbeaten half centuries.

Prince of Wales College came out with a stunning performance by forcing a honourable draw in their fixture against Ananda played at Moratuwa. The Anandians with four victories to their credit in the current season failed to deliver the same form with their top order really struggling for runs.

As a result they were dismissed for 233 runs despite a fine half century by Ishan Abeysekera. But the Cambrians had earlier sealed the game by rattling up a commanding total of 277 runs. They were helped to a great extent by R. Perera, P. Ranaweera and J. Wannakuwatte with all stroking half centuries.

St. Joseph's College had to be content with a draw despite their complete dominance over Wesley College in their fixture played at Campbell Park. They put up a splendid performance on the field and dismissed the home side for 150 runs with D. Fernando and I. Hettiarachchi causing the damage.

The Josephians then further consolidated their position with their entire top order striking form. Openers Ian Daniels and Johannes Jayasuriya figured in a century opening stand with both scoring half centuries. But the Wesleyites fought back in their second innings through the individual brilliance of S. Faiz and N. Balasuriya.

A fine all round performance by N. Pannilavithana helped Raddoluwa MV trounce Gurukula MV by an innings and seven runs in their encounter worked off at Raddoluwa. Pannilavithana had a matchbag of nine wickets and also hit a sparkling knock of 92 in their first innings.

In addition Raddoluwa MV piled up the highest total for the season by scoring a massive 416 for 6 with D. Ranatunga, S. Arangala and C. Kulasinghe leading the way.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)