St. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia registered a close 17 runs win over the fancied Ananda College when they defended 180 runs in their Under 19 all island limited overs tournament quarter final worked out at R. Premadasa Stadium.
Ananda skipper Thamalaka Athulathmudali won the toss and invited the Thomians to take the first lease of the wicket. Ananda bowlers led by their spinners made life difficult for the Thomian batsmen as they struggled to post a good score above 200. St. Thomas was bundled out inside 50 overs for only 180 runs. Sachith Jayathilake and Madushan Ravichandrakumar played good hands of 34 and 33 respectively. Kaveesha Anjula was the pick of the bowlers grabbing three wickets.
Chasing a par score of 181 runs to secure their place in the semi-final, Ananda’s innings was revolved around opening batsman Lakkana Jayasekara’s classic knock of 58 but the other batsmen failed to counter the Thomian bowling attack which had great venom and accuracy on a batting friendly Kettarama surface. Right arm leg spinner Sachitha Jayathilake and right arm medium fast bowler Helakamal Nanayakkara inflicted most of the damage sharing six wickets between them as boys from Colombo 10 were bowled out for 163 in the 40th over.
Brief Scores:
St.Thomas – 180 all out in 49.3 overs : Nipuna Gamage 20, Madushan Ravichandrakumar 33, Helakamal Nanayakkara 29, Sachitha Jayathilake 34 ; Kaveesha Anjula 3 for 32. Lakkana Jayasekara 2 for 27 , Isuru Gunasekara 2 for 29.
Ananda – 163 all out in 39.3 Overs : Lakkana Jayasekara 58, Nisal Francisco 21, Helakamal Nanayakkara 3 for 34, Sachitha Jayathilake 3 for 13, Sajana De Silva 2 for 23, Tharindu Rathnayake 2 for 39.
