Nalanda College, Colombo and St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa booked their places in the final of the Singer Division 1 cricket tournament after recording first innings wins over S. Thomas’ College, Mt Lavinia and Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa respectively. The two teams will battle it out for the championship in the final scheduled to be played on the 14th and 15th of September at Thurstan Grounds.
Nalanda College vs S.Thomas’ College
At stumps on day 1, the defending champions S. Thomas’ College were at 124 for the loss of 8 wickets needing 41 more to take a first innings lead. Dilmin Rathnayaka couldn’t add much to his overnight score as he was dismissed after a fighting 31. Ranuk Gunawardana kept the hopes alive stroking a gritty 34 as the Thomians slowly closed in Nalanda’s 164 with just one wicket in hand.
Much to the agony of the Mt. Lavinia boys, the last wicket fell when they were just short by 4 runs conceding the first innings win to Nalanda. Ranuk Gunawardana and Kishan Munasinghe were the top scorers managing 34 each. Thamindu Kamalasuriya bagged a five-wicket haul giving away only 44 runs.
An outright result was possible with plenty of overs remaining as the Nalandians came to bat for the second time. Bowlers kept picking up wickets at regular intervals but a few valuable contributions from the tailenders helped Nalanda to post 198 in 47.4 overs. Moksha Sankalpa starred with the bat again scoring 48 vital runs while Avishka Perera chipped in with 39. Dilmin Rathnayaka (5 for 73) and Kishan Munasinghe (4 for 28) shared nine wickets among themselves.
The Thomians were set an improbable 203 to win with only a handful of overs remaining. The top six batsmen were dismissed cheaply again for the second time in the match, as S. Thomas’ College got off to another terrible start. They were reeling at 31 for 6 in 9 overs when play was called for the day. Jithesh Wasala bowled a terrific spell to pick up 4 wickets for 8 runs.
Earlier, Nalanda College posted 164 on the board with valuable contributions from Lakshan Kashyapa (41) and Moksha Sankalpa (31). Dineth Wanniarachchi was the chief destroyer with the ball claiming 5 wickets for 39 runs.
Nalanda College Colombo
First Innings – 164 all out in 42.2 overs
(Lakshan Kashyapa 41, Moksha Sankalpa 31, Dineth Wanniarachchi 5/39)
Second Innings – 198 all out in 47.4 overs
(Avishka Perera 39, Mokshya Sankalpa 48, Dilmin Rathnayaka 5/73, Krishan Munasinghe 4/28)
S.Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia
First Innings – 160 all out in 62 overs
(Ranuk Gunawardana 34, Kishan Munasinghe 34, Dilmin Rathnayaka 31, Thamindu Kamalasuriya 5/44)
Second Innings – 31 for 6 in 9 overs
(Jithesh Wasala 4/08)
Prince of Wales College vs St. Sebastian’s College
Prince of Wales College came into bat on day 2 with a daunting task ahead as St. Sebastian’s College declared on their overnight score of 310 for 9. The Cambrians were never really in the game as they lost wickets at crucial intervals. The batsmen were also unable to rotate the strike and their only intention was to bat out the allocated overs. But they couldn’t last long enough to see through the day as they were eventually bundled out for 155 in 80 overs. Osanda Sandaruwan remained not out at 28 while Upeka Fernando and Samudra Mendis chipped in with 24 and 19 respectively. The Sebastianite bowlers put up a collective performance with as many as three bowlers picking up 2 wickets each.
Earlier, St. Sebastian’s College went onto amass 310 for the loss 9 wickets thanks to some excellent stroke making by Janushka Perera and skipper Shanel Fernando. Their mammoth partnership of 176 runs for the 5th wicket stole the limelight on day 1 as Janushka went onto score a magnificent century while Shanel made a cracking 82. Osanda Sandaruwan starred with the ball bagging 5 wickets for 58 runs.
St. Sebastian’s College Moratuwa
First Innings – 310 for 9 in 90 overs
(Janushka Perera 109, Shanel Fernando 82, Sukitha Prasanna 40, Osanda Sandaruwan 5/58, Kaveen Chathushka 2/32)
Prince of Wales College Moratuwa
First innings – 155 all out in 80 overs
(Upeka Fernando 24, Samudra Mendis 19, Osanda Sandaruwan 28*, Shanel Fernando 2/24, Chamod Mendis 2/25)
