St. Anthony’s College, Katugasthota didn’t have the best start to the season as they were handed a first innings defeat by Wesley College in the traditional fixture worked off at Katugastota Oval.
Wesley College won the toss and elected to bowl first on a green-top. The medium pacers used the conditions well and troubled the batsmen with some excellent lines and lengths. The Antonians couldn’t make the most of their home advantage as they lost wickets at crucial intervals. Mohamad Ubayadulla was the chief destroyer with the ball claiming 5 wickets for 29 runs.
Youngster Nipun Ashok made a gritty knock for the hosts, holding the innings together as he stroked his way to a valiant 86. The tailenders were able to stick with him as he single-handedly took the Antonians to a respectable total of 189 before being dismissed as the last batsman. Opening batsman Sunera Jayasinghe contributed with a vital 33. Right arm medium pacer Helitha Bambaranda played his part picking up 3 wickets for 81 runs.
It wasn’t easy going for the Wesley-ites as right-arm fast bowler Virajitha Jayasinghe troubled them early on. Openers Jason De Silva and Shenal Dangalla started off slowly but were able to accelerate after seeing off the new ball. Wesley College was cruising along at one point with an opening partnership of 106, but the Antonians hit back by removing both the openers in consecutive deliveries.
Jason De Silva made a stroke-filled 61 while Shenal Dangalla contributed with 39. Skipper Shamod Athuladmudali and Thilina Perera joined in the middle and ensured that they don’t lose any further wickets as Wesley ended day 1 with 162 on board. Antonians were not in their best in the field as they dropped as many as 4 catches which didn’t help the cause at all.
The visitors were able to get the first innings lead comfortably on day 2, but the Kandy lads kept picking up wickets in regular intervals. Let arm spinner Sandaruwan Dharmarathna bowled exceptionally well as he bagged 6 wickets on day 2 and finished with the figures of 7/124. Virajitha claimed 3 wickets for 66 runs as the duo shared all 10 wickets among themselves. Shamod Athuladmudali went onto score a half century before being dismissed for 51. Wesley was eventually bundled out for 282 in 73 overs with all their top five batsmen getting starts and scoring more than 20 runs.
St. Anthony’s College came to bat for the second time and things got worse for them with their first two wickets falling as a result of poor running between the wickets. Senior batsman Sunera fared well with the bat again as he made a fighting 47 to dig his team out of trouble. Virajitha made a cameo at the stroke of stumps and remained not out on 28. The Antonians were at 214 for the loss of 7 wickets when play was called off for the day. Kavinda Dissanayaka was brilliant with the ball picking up 4 wickets for 69 runs.
The much needed first innings win and the good show by the batting department will bring back the confidence in Wesley camp as they narrowly escaped an outright loss in their tournament opener against Lumbini College. Antonians will be ruing their failure to click as a team even though they had notable individual performances.
St. Anthony’s College Kandy
First Innings – 189 all out in 41.3 overs (Nipun Ashok 86, Sunera Jayasinghe 33, Mohomad Ubayadulla 5/29, Helitha Bambaranda 3/81)
Wesley College Colombo
First Innings – 282 all out in 73 overs (Jason De Silva 61, Chamod Athulathmudali 51, Shenal Dangalla 39, Sandaruwan Dharmarathna 7/124, Virajitha Jayasinghe 3/66)
St. Anthony’s College Kandy
Second Innings – 214 for 7 in 60 overs (Sunera Jayasinghe 47, Virajitha Jayasinghe 28*, Kavinda Dissanayaka 4/69)
