Yet another fine all-round performance by St Peter’s to win by 7 wickets against St Anthony’s
St Peter’s College played their final match of the season against St Anthony’s College. Toss was won by the visitors who Selected to bat first. It was a constant struggle for the visitors as the Peterite bowlers kept on taking wickets and keeping it tight on the field. Speedster Randel Seneviratne gave them a good start with taking quick wickets in the first few overs. He finished with figures of 3 for 22, continuing his good form from the last match. With the bat it was Damithra Panditharatne held the innings together somewhat with Pulasthi Bandara who scored 57 and 43 respectively. Other than these two batters it was not much contributions from the other batters. Left arm off spinner Ashanth Malka bagged 3 wickets for 16 runs and Taneesha Weerakoon took 3 wickets for 52 runs. St Anthony’s were bundled out for 155 runs in 56.3 overs. Peterite bowlers yet again proving their talent out their in the field.
St Peter’s came on to bat in the second session of day one. Opening batsman Dineth Thimodya gave them a flying start as he was stroking the ball sweetly. Been the highest scorer for them this season, he made sure that he add more to his run tally in the last match. He was out for a quick fire 72 giving Peterites the start they wanted. At the end of day one the score board stood at 191 for 5. They took on from they left and kept scoring runs at ease. In form wicket keeper batsman Lakshina Rodrigo got close yet again to his second century but fell short by just 7 runs as he was dismissed for a brilliant 93. Sachin Dalpadathu chipped in with 47 runs helping St Peter’s to post a massive first innings total of 284 for the loss of 7 wickets before captain Chandula Jayamanna decided to put the visitors bat. It was team effort by the home team with almost all the batters chipping in with cameos to post this massive total. With the ball Buwaneka Wijetunge took 2 for 59 and Dilan Bandara took 2 for 65.
St Anthony’s came on to bat in their second innings trailing by 128 runs, which doesn’t look like much but against this strong bowling attack of St Peter’s anything over a 100 runs is always gonna be hard chase to overcome. They were struggling yet again as the home side kept pushing hard at the batters. Ashanth Malka was lethal yet again on the visitors bagging a fifer and increasing his wicket tally for this season. He ended with figures of 5 for 37, bagging 8 wickets from the two innings. Their leading wicket taker Vinu Mohotti took 2 for 22 while Taneesha Weerakoon bagged 2 wickets for 25 runs. They were bundled out for just 155 runs in 75.5 overs giving the home side a target of just 38 runs. With the bat it was Kanishka Uggalpaya who helped them with a handy half century and Yapa Bandara chipped in with 32 runs. At the end it was not enough for the visitors to save the match.
St. Peter’s College had to score these runs quickly because the time was running out. They took only 3 overs but lost 3 wickets along the way. The end result is what matters, the fact that they won the match and ended this season in a high will give them immense satisfaction and confidence heading to their big match against the star studded St Joesph’s College.
St. Anthony’s 155 all out in 56.3 overs (Damithra Panditharatne 57, Pulasthi Bandara 43, Dilan Bandara 26; Ashanth Malka 3/16, Randel Seneviratne 3/22, Taneesha Weerakoon 3/52) and 166 all out in 75.5 overs (Kanishka Uggalpaya 52, Yapa Bandara 31, Buwaneka Wijetunga 30; Ashanth Malka 5/37, Vinu Mohotti 2/22, Taneesha Weerakoon 2/25)
St. Peter’s (191 for 5 o/n) 283 for 7 decl. in 53.3 overs (Dineth Thimodya 72, Lakshina Rodrigo 93, Sachin Dalpethado 37, Manelka De Silva 27, Vinu Mohotti 33 n.o.; Buwaneka Wijetunga 2/59, Dilan Bandara 2/65) and 40 for 3 in 3 overs (Lakshina Rodrigo 22 n.o.)
