The giant-killers of the Under 19 Schools T20 tournament, St. Aloysius’ College, Galle bagged another fish on their net by upsetting Trinity College by 7 wickets in their semi-finals played at R. Premadasa International Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
The Trinity skipper Raveen Sayer opted to bat first on a wearing surface. The Trinity vice-captain Nushan Weerasinghe who made a match-winning 60 yesterday was undone for no score by a terrific Sajith Sankalpa delivery in the first-over. Dilan Jayalath scraped through few neat boundaries but mistimed a lofted cover-drive straight to mid-off to give the second scalp to fast-bowler Sankalpa.
The Aloysian bowlers concentrated heavily on bowling wicket-to-wicket while the Trinitians played several rash shots to give away their wickets at regular intervals. Right-arm medium seamer Niluksha Dulmina bowled his quota of 4 overs on the trot and bagged three important wickets of Shanogeeth Shanmuganathan, Naveen Ekanayake and Yasaran Pitawala.
The boys from Kandy were five down for 39 in the 7th over but two resolute knocks from skipper Sayer and all-rounder Sachira Gaminda ensured Trinity get pass the 100-run mark. Sankalpa came into the attack during the death overs to take another couple of wickets to end with impressive figures of 4 for 13 off his 4 overs as Trinity were bowled out for 107.
Photo Album – St. Aloysius’ College vs Trinity College – U19 T20 SF 2
Chasing 108 runs to victory, St. Aloysius College openers, Niluksha Dulmina and Prabodha Guruge started off cautiously scoring 32 during the Powerplay overs. The Trinitians needed a breakthrough to come back into the game and it was a valiant diving catch by Tashila Dodanwala which ended the 44-run opening stand as Dulmina was dismissed by skipper Sayer for 19 in the 9th over.
The part-time leg-spinner Dilan Jayalath clean bowled Ravindu Sanjana in the 11th over but Guruge and two-drop batsman Ashen Bandara batted sensibly nudging around singles and scoring occasional boundaries to take them closer to victory.
Guruge’s excellent 42-ball 44 which included 4 fours and a six was ended by a caught & bowl by Hasith Boyagoda with the lads from Galle still needing 29 runs to victory. The Aloysians never looked in a hurry to reach the target but they eventually reached it with 7 balls to spare as Bandara hammered it down past the bowler to score the winning boundary.
Before this game, St. Aloysius College had defeated Isipathana College and S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia in the pre-quarter final and quarter-final stage of this tournament.
St. Aloysius College will take on St. Peter’s College in the final scheduled to be played on 8th April at Galle International Stadium.
Trinity College – 107 all out in 20 overs: Dilan Jayalath 14, Raveen Sayer 25, Sachira Gaminda 21, 4/13, Niluksha Dulmina 3/19.
St. Aloysius College – 111/3 in 18.5 overs: Prabodha Guruge 44, Niluksha Dulmina 19, Ashen Bandara 29*, Dilan Jayalath 1/10, Hasitha Boyagoda 1/12.
