The Thomians took control of the game with a brilliant second day performance.
Wicketkeeper Sanesh de Mel put on a brilliant show with a patient century that propelled his team to a mammoth 325 for 8 wickets and gave the Thomians a lead of 167 runs.
The Royalists who were put into bat right after tea, lost the solitary wicket of Geeshath Panditharathne who was out for a duck as the day closed with the boys from Reid Avenue having amassed 36 runs for the loss of one wicket.
It was a good start for the ‘Blue and Golds’ as Anupa Thillakarathne managed to unsettle the new comer to the crease Helakamal Nanayakkara who was bowled for just a single run.
Sanesh de Mel on the other side, kept losing partners at regular intervals until he found solace in Chenutha Wickramasinghe as both of them put a massive partnership of 116 runs for the 8th wicket which is also a record. The previous record of 112 between R.Fernando and C.Gunwardena was broken by this valiant effort by the two Thomians.
Wickramasinghe also managed to score a well deserved half century before Chamika Karunarathne managed to finally take his scalp, as the Thomians declared their first innings when the wicket fell.
At the end of days play, the Royalist pair of Shaminda Dias and Hashen Ramanayake were at the crease, with Hasitha Samarasinghe retired hurt scoring 16 runs which included three boundaries.
The boys from Reid Avenue had only themselves to blame for the lead that the Thomians managed to acquire which was complemented by a number of dropped catches and a crucial stumping miss.
However, all roads lead to the SSC tomorrow which will be the third and final day of this 135th ‘Battle of the Blues’ encounter. The Thomians will want some early wickets in the first session which could signal warning bells, while the Royalists will hope that the Ramanayake-Dias partnership will continue beyond lunch and play the Royalists to safety.
