Royal College put up a fine performance to take first innings honours over Ananda College in their annual inter school Under 19 cricket encounter which concluded at the Bloomfield ground in Reid Avenue today.
Royal College continued their dominance with the bat on the second day and went on to overtake their opponents modest first innings total of 162 runs quite easily before declaring at a formidable 256 for 9 wickets.
Overnight batsman and dynamic all rounder Randev Pathirana continued his outstanding form with the bat as he raced to another magnificent half century which set the pace for their impressive first innings total.
Royal College produced another half centurion with Kiran Dhanapala coming into the limelight probably for the first time in the current season while smashing a run a ball 80 runs to take their total past the two hundred and fifty run mark.
The Anandians of course made a desperate attempt to prevent the run flow but could not succeed despite the fine individual efforts of Sahan Arachchige (4 for 43) and Isuru Gunasekera (3 for 82).
Ananda College with a first innings deficit of 94 runs went into their second innings under some kind of pressure as they needed to survive more than a session to force a draw.
In fact the Anandians had a good opportunity of making some kind of amends for their first innings failure but instead they continued to fail with only Lakkhana Jayasekera (30), Kusal Perera (20) and Sahan Arachchige (20) providing any resistance.
As a result the Anandians labored for nearly fifty overs in reaching a dismal 116 runs for 6 wickets in their second innings with Mavan Kariyawasam capturing two wickets for 20 runs.
Ananda College: 162 (Ramalka Athulathmudali 30, Sandaken Pathirana 27, Randev Pathirana 4 for 26, Harin Samarasinghe 3 for 14, Devind Pathmanathan 2 for 30) and 116 for 6 wickets (Lakkhana Jayasekera 30, Kusal Perera 20, Sahan Arachchige 20, Mavan Kariyawasam 2 for 20)
Royal College: 256 for 9 wickets declared (Randev Pathirana 61, Chamika Karunaratne 43, Kiran Dhanapala 80, Sahan Arachchige 4 for 43, Isuru Gunasekera 3 for 82)
