Maliyadeva College chased down 260 runs against St Joseph’s College to secure their spot in the quarter finals of the Singer U17 Division I cricket tournament.
The knock out rounds have started as we enter the business end of the U17 cricket tournament. The match between these two big guns in the school cricket arena took place in Negombo. With the loss of Jehan Daniel due to national duty, the Josephians had concerns in both departments.
Nipun Sumanasinghe won the toss and elected to bat first. They got off to a flying start with Revan Kelly going all guns blazing in the first few overs. Kelly has been one of the constant performers for the boys from Darley Road.
Kelly scored a quick fire 86 right up the order to lay the foundation. The middle order got starts but they couldn’t carry on to make a big score but all the batsmen contributed with good cameos. However due to the loss of wickets the visitors were cleaned up for 260 with four balls to spare. For the home side Sahan Ranatunge took 3 wickets for 41.
The home side came to bat with a challenging task ahead. They got the perfect foundation through the partnership between Dulaj Ranatunge and Janith Deshan. Dulaj top scored with 70 while Janith scored 51 runs and together they got the team close to the target. Nipun Sumanasinghe took 2 wickets for his team but they dearly missed the presence of Jehan Daniel in their bowling line up. Mailyadewa College got over the line with 2 wickets in hand and 9 balls to spare.
St. Jospehs College 260 (49.2) Revan Kelly 86, Cameron Duruge 34, Sahan Ranatunga 3/41
vs
Maliyadewa College 262/8 (48.3) Dulaj Ranathunga 70, Janith Deshan 51, Supun Sumanarathna 29, Nipun Sumanasinghe 2/48
