Thurstan College commenced their 2014/15 cricket season under all-rounder Thimira Jayasinghe with a thumping innings and 104-run victory over Carey College in their under 19 division 1 match played at Thurstan College Grounds.
The match was significant for the Thurstan left-arm spinner Naveen Gunawardene who pioneered his team to victory on his debut with a match bag of 9 wickets including a cracking 4-wicket haul in the Carey 2nd innings to dismantle the newly promoted team to only 22 runs.
Carey College won the toss and elected to bat first and they found run-making difficult as they were restricted to 108 runs as Naveen Gunawardene casted his magic with a superb spell of spin bowling to capture 5 wickets. Deemantha Ranush top scored with 36 runs while Sachin Madusanka chipped in with 34 runs.
Thurstan in their reply made 234 runs for the loss of 4 wickets before declaring the innings. Opening batsmen, Sajith Gunathilake and Isuru Fernando scored half-centuries while Charana Nanayakkara stroked a stunning knock of 66 runs. Brendon Ebert picked up two wickets for the visitors.
Carey was all at sea with the bat in their 2nd innings as all their batsmen were bundled out within 20 overs by the home team.
Chief Scores:
Carey (1st inn) – 108 all out in 52.4 overs: Deemantha Ranush 36, Sachin Madusanka 34; Naveen Gunawardena 5/15, Sulochana Silva 2/14.
Thurstan (1st inn) – 234/4 declared in 51.4 overs: Isuru Fernando 53, Sajith Gunathilake 52, Thimira Jayasinghe 43, Charana Nanayakkara 66, Brendon Ebert 2/58.
Carey (2nd inn) – 22 all out in 19.2 overs: Naveen Gunawardena 4/08, Thimira Jayasinghe 3/03.
