Maris Stella College Negombo staged a remarkable fight back to force a creditable draw to their inter school under 19 cricket tournament match against St. Peter’s College Bambalapitiya which concluded at the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) ground in Katunayake yesterday.
Maris Stella College who were skittle out for a dismal 47 runs in the first innings recovered magnificently in their second attempt to post a competitive total of 263 runs and went on to built up an overall lead of 150 runs.
In fact Maris Stella College were able to have the final laugh after being completely outplayed on the opening day as they put up a tremendous performance on the field and when the match ended they were just three wickets away from pulling off a stunning outright victory.
St. Peter’s College never found it easy in reaching their modest target of 150 runs as they struggled throughout the innings and eventually they were forced to put up the shutters having lost seven wickets for just 127 runs during their run chase.
However this was a huge turn around for Maris Stella College who had the mental strength to get off the floor and fight back when at one stage it looked as if they would surrender to their more fancied opponents quite meekly.
They of course started the second day under tremendous pressure and their initial goal was to avert the follow on mark in an attempt to overcome a huge psychological barrier in the match.
They performed that task to absolute perfection with overnight batsman Chanaka Fernando continuing with the good work and went on to hit a top score of 81 which was actually worth more than a hundred considering the match situation at that stage.
Senior player Prasansana Jayamanna joined Fernando and the pair really lifted the side with a match saving partnership and eventually they ensured that St. Peter’s College will have a tough second innings target to chase during the final session.
In fact it turned out to be a nightmare for the Peterites as they completely lost their way during the run chase before settling down for a draw at the end.
St. Peter’s College: 160 (Kavinda Tissera 50, Didula Mendis 27, Prasanna Nanayakkara 2 for 16, Savindu Perera 3 for 43) and 127-7 (Didulana Mendis 34, Sahan Nanayakkara 30 n. o, Dilan Gamage 3 for 55, Pathirana Suwaris 2 for 88)
Maris Stella College: 47 (Sahan Nanayakkara 5 for 7, Chemila Obeysekera 3 for 14) and 263 (Chanaka Fernando 81, Prasansana Jayamanna 41, Sahan Nanayakkara 8 for 86)
