St Thomas wrap up thumping victory

St Thomas College 340 (Peiris 125) beat Royal College 94 (Peiris 3-16) and 218 (Senaratne 92) by an innings and 28 runs
Scorecard

St Thomas College needed just eight overs on the third morning at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo to wrap up a thumping innings-and-28-run victory over their arch-rivals, Royal College, to secure their first victory in the "Battle of the Blues" since 1999.

A St Thomas victory was always on the cards after rolling Royal College over for 94 in the first innings, but they had been held up on the second evening by a dogged 102-run stand between D Wijeratne and Sukitha Senaratne, who had compiled a fine unbeaten 92. Senaratne, however, could not add to his overnight score, and with his departure, the end was swift.

Wijeratne added nine more runs to his overnight 39, but appropriately enough, it was St Thomas's captain, Videsh Balasubramaniam, who applied the coup de grace, sweeping through the tail for figures of 4 for 54 from 15 overs.

St Thomas's victory takes them ahead of Royal in the overall record between the two sides. In their 126 encounters, St Thomas have now won 33 matches to Royal's 32, with 61 draws.