St. Joseph’s College secure final berth after cliffhanger

Navod Paranavithana, the Mahinda skipper won the toss and invited St. Josephs to bat first. The high riding Josephians were initially reduced to 101/6 in the 30th over, but the experienced campaigner Miranga Wickramage anchored the lower order batting brilliantly while making 45 off 55 balls to push the Josephians towards a competitive total. Sheran Fonseka and Dinal Anuradha also made useful 20s for St. Josephs to get them to a fighting 177, though they were bowled out with 2 over’s to spare. 

Kushan Madusha and Subanu Rajapaksha were impressive with the ball capturing three scalps apiece for the boys from Galle.

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After their good performance with the ball, Mahinda College was in with a great chance of securing a spot in the final against either St. Sebastian’s College or S. Thomas’ College.

Man-in-form, skipper Navod Paranavithana looked in ominous touch once again as he carved the inexperienced Josephian pace attack – bar Lakshan Gamage – to all parts of the Galle International Stadium, but wickets fell at regular intervals including the key scalp of Paranavithana for 33 as the Josephians took the upper hand. 

Mahinda College never really recovered as they sunk to 107/8 in the 33rd over, but Osindu Kavindya walked out at number 10 and had other ideas as he launched a fine counter attack which caught the Josephians unaware to get Mahinda College within touching distance. 

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He struck 3 sixes and 4 fours on his way to a powerful half century, and left his team 12 to get off the final over with the Josephian skipper Ashian Daniel bowling. His partner Chethiya Gunasekara missed the first ball and Shevaan Rasool fumbled as they tried to steal a run, only to see the heroic Kavindya being run-out for 50 off 47 deliveries ending a thriller of a semifinal. 

Lakshan Gamage bowled superbly to capture three wicket before he went the distance against Kavindya during the latter stages, while experienced spinners Dunith Wellalage and skipper Daniel picked up two wickets apiece.