A magnificent century by Dilendra Gunathilake steered the Thomians to a successful first innings win against Trinity College at Asgiriya Stadium as they retained the Ranil Abeynayake trophy for the second consecutive year.
Gunathilake’s knock of 105, that consisted of 16 fours and 2 sixes, was the highlight of his team’s innings as they surpassed the Trinity total in the first innings.
Looking at the fast outfield, Trinity skipper Raveen Sayer opted to bat first. Coming out to bat, Trinity College were able to gradually progress on to 297 runs. Top scoring for the side was middle order batsman Hasitha Boyagoda who scored 91 while Sachira Gaminda and Shanogeeth Shanmuganathan each contributed with 45. Sayer steered the innings past 250, building partnerships for the final wickets and contributing 43 runs himself. Sachitha Jayathilake did the most damage for the Thomians picking another five wicket haul ending up with figures of 5/61.
Having being set somewhat of a challenging target of 298 runs for a 1st innings victory, the visitors were 27/0 overnight. Coming out to bat on Saturday morning, the top order batsmen had a field day at Asgiriya, as runs kept coming from all parts. Top scorer for STC, Dilendra Gunathilake got a well-earned century while the rest of the batsmen built the innings around him. Yohan Mendis and Ravindu Kodituwakku contributed with 77 and 40 respectively as they surpassed the 1st innings target, declaring at 303/9.
Trinity College who were up for the challenge surprisingly declared their second innings at 82/2 giving the Thomians a 75 run target for an outright but time did not permit them to chase it down successfully; they were 27/0 at the close of play.
With the visitors surpassing Trinity in the first innings, the Thomians will retain the Ranil Abeynayake trophy for a second year. This comes in good time for the school by the sea with less than a month to go for the Battle of the Blues.
Score summary:
Trinity College 297 all out in 79.3 Overs
Nushan Weerasinghe 38, S shanogeeth 45, Hasitha Boyagoda 91, Sachira Gaminda 45, Ravin Sayer 43,
Ravindu Thilakarathne 1/98 sachitha Jayathilake 5/61 Senal de silva 1/43 Kanishka Perera 2/42
S Thomas College 303 for 9 declared
Yohan mendis 77,Ravindu Kodituwakku 40, Dilendra Gunathilake 105, Sachitha jayathilake 14, Sithara Hapuhinna 38 .
Ravin sayer 3/107 Duvindu Thilakarathne 3/92
Trinity College 2nd Innings 82/2 In 13 Overs
S Shanogeeth 36 Nushan Weerasinghe 21, Dilan Jayalath 22
Ravindu Thilakarathne 2/20
S Thomas College 27/0 in 10 Overs at Close
Ravindu Kodituwakku 18*, Yohan Mendis 7*
