Sri Lanka: Schools Cricket Review (28 January 1999)

28 January 1999

Sri Lanka: Schools Cricket Review

Chris Dhambarage

St. Anne's College, Kurunegala, created a major sensation when they brought down St.Sebastian's College by four wickets in their Lemonade Cup inter school cricket tournament fixture worked off at Moratuwa.

Their success had great significance considering the fact that this was their first win over the Sebastianites in fourteen years and also they were performing away from home. The Annites rallied around through a superb team effort and added the finishing touches in a spectacular manner.

They bowled out the opposition for just 75 runs in the second innings and that turned out to be the turning point in this encounter. St.Anne's did struggle a bit during their run chase but Sherantha Mendis hit an unbeaten half century and eventually made certain of their historic victory.

In fact this game turned out to be a memorable one for Sherantha Mendis who earlier captured 5 for 30 in the Sebastianite first innings. St.Anne's College however were dismissed for 153 runs and also conceded a first innings lead to their opponents. But they bounced back in style and completely ran through the Sebastianite batting line up with some accurate bowling in the second innings.

Meanwhile the key match between Royal and St.Joseph's College ended in a draw at Reid Avenue. Even then St.Joseph's College took major honours simply for their outstanding performance on the field. They really got their act together well and dismissed the strong Royal batting line up for a modest 147.

This was mainly due the efforts of Ishan Hettiarachchi who returned excellent figures off 7 for 39. He had a tremendous game with the ball and captured three more wickets in the second innings to finish with a matchbag of ten wickets.

St. Joseph's College compiled 234 for 9 in their first innings with all rounder Roshan de Silva scoring a superb 94 in almost even time. Altogether the Josephian batting line up looked quite impressive with most of their top order batsmen making useful contributions.

Prince of Wales College and S.Thomas' College figured in a high scoring draw in their fixture worked off at Moratuwa. The Cambrians have now made it a habit of scoring over 250 runs and this time too they did it in style by compiling 241 for 7 in their first innings.

Hasantha Fernando was the hero as he hammered an unbeaten century to put the Cambrians in a strong position. The Thomians then suffered a major setback in their second innings as they were dismissed for 171 runs with Janaka Gunaratne claiming 6 for 46. Altogether this was another fine performance by the Cambrians who have certainly made their presence felt in the current season.

Wesley College threw away a good chance of pulling off a victory in their inter school fixture against Kingswood College played at Campbell Park. The Wesleyites were well placed after having bowled the visitors out for just 124 runs in the first innings.

But they were badly let down by their top order batsmen as they lost half of their side for just 95 runs. They did recover to a certain extent through the individual efforts of D.Medagedera and D.Dissanayake with both completing unbeaten half centuries. But the pair never looked like dominating the proceedings and were restricted by some accurate bowling from the Kingswoodians.

The visitors then put up an improved performance in their second innings with N.Pushpakumara scoring a fighting half century. N.Pushpakumara again came out with an impressive spell of bowling and finished with a matchbag off nine wickets.

Meanwhile rain prevented St.Anthony's College from recording their first victory for the season in their inter school fixture against St.Benedict's College worked off at Katugastota. The Benedictines were struggling at 78 for 7 in their second innings when heavy rain forced an early end to the match with one session of play still remaining.

The Antonians were quite determined to perform well and did not mind conceding a first innings lead to their opponents. They declared at 177 for 6 while giving plenty of time to their bowlers to dismiss the opposition for the second time in the game.

Amila Pinnaduwa responded well and returned excellent figures of 5 for 31. But a stubborn unbeaten knock of 26 by G.M.Teeban helped St.Benedict's College avoid a complete batting collapse and eventually ended up at 78 for 7 having occupied the crease for 53 overs.

A deadly spell of bowling by left arm spinner D.A.Marage who had a matchbag of 12 for 36 helped Raddoluwa MV trounce Carey College by ten wickets in their played at Castle Street. Marage captured 8 for 19 as Carey were bundled out for just 56 runs in their second innings.

Leg spinner Jeevantha Livera of Maris Stella College also had a matchbag of 10 wickets in their drawn fixture against Sri Sumangala College Panadura and worked off at Negombo.

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