Only 122 overs were possible on both days of the 51st Battle of the Brothers ‘Big’ match between Thurstan College and Isipathana College which concluded without a result at SSC grounds on Saturday.
Thurstan College resumed the day 2 with their overnight score of 206 in 5 wickets. Captain Kavindu Kulasekara got to his half century as the first thing in the morning and the Thurstanites batted for an hour before they declared their innings on 240 for 8 in 65 overs. Three half centuries were scored during the Thurstan innings. Firstly it was Minhaj Jaleel who got his team off to a flying start and then Thimira Jayasinghe who played the anchor role in the middle overs and then lastly captain Kavindu Kulasekara finished off the innings with a flourish.
Thurstan had to put up a strong bowling effort to bundle out the dodgy Isipathana batting lineup but a hearty and slow knock by Sachin Jayasuriya and Kelum Bastianz ensured Isipathana remained safe until the heavens cracked open at around 3.30pm. Sachin Jayasuriya batted almost 30 overs from his end for his 108 balls 36 runs which were crucial runs from Isipathana’s point of view. Senior player Kelum Bastianz was the best batsman as he made 44 valuable runs in 108 deliveries with 4 fours and a six. Skipper Kavindu Kulasekara bowled a superb spell of 8 overs with 3 maidens for 7 runs and 2 wickets while left arm spinner Senal Wijesinghe captured 2 wickets for 36 runs.
Isipathana College was 136 for the loss of 6 wickets when the play was stopped due to rain.
Another boring encounter which ended without any flair thanks to the bad weather hampering over 5 hours of play on both days.
Chief Scores:
Thurstan – 240/8 in 65 overs : Minhaj Jaleel 61,Thimira Jayasinghe 56, Kavindu Kulasekara 57, Chameera Dissanayake 2/61, Avinda Soysa 2/51, Kelum Bastianz 2/48.
Isipathana – 136/6 in 57 overs : Sachin Jayasuriya 36, Dinuka Shehan 24, Kelum Bastianz 44, Senal Wijesinghe 2/36, Kavindu Kulasekara 2/7.
Match Result: Match Drawn
