Ananda College booked their place in the under 19 all-island limited overs tournament finals when they defeated the defending champions, Thurstan College by 14 runs (according D/L method) at R. Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday.
Thurstan skipper Thimira Jayasinghe won the toss of coin and had no hesitation in batting first. The opening batsman, Kasun Abeyrathne gave a solid start scoring 25 while Isuru Fernando was sound in his patient 42. Skipper Thimira contributed with 31 runs but the best knock came off Charana Nanayakkara’s bat as he cracked a quick-fire 52 coming at the latter stages of the innings. Right-arm off-spinning skipper Sammu Ashan picked up 3 wickets for 29 runs in his quota of 10 overs while left-armer Dilanka Sandaken managed to pick up 2 wickets.
Thurstan scraped hard to post 198 as they were all-out in the last ball of their innings.
Chasing 199 runs to win in 50 overs with a required run-rate of just below 4 runs per over, Ananda started off positively but lost the crucial wickets of Nisal Fransisco and Kavishka Anjula cheaply. The burden of the chase was taken up by skipper Sammu Ashan and Sahan Arachchige who carried them home when rain disrupted play. The senior players were not out on 36* and 31* respectively. Ananda College were 129 for 3 in the 36th over and according to the Duckworth and Lewis method, they were 14 runs ahead.
Last year’s champions, Thurstan College bowed out of the tournament and Ananda College will take on the winners of Trinity College, Kandy vs DS Senanayake College (2nd semi-final) in the finals scheduled to be played on April 5th at R. Premadasa Stadium.
Chief Scores:
Thurstan College – 198 all out in 50 overs: Charana Nanayakkara 52, Isuru Fernando 42, Thimira Jayasinghe 31, Kasun Abeyrathne 25, Sammu Ashan 3/29, Dilanka Sandakan 2/38.
Ananda College – 129/3 in 35.4 overs: Sammu Ashan 36*, Sahan Archchige 31*, Kavishka Anjula 29, Charana Nanayakkara 2/13.
