Royal College Colombo recorded their first win of the season in the very first match of the ongoing schools cricket season against St, Anne’s College Kurunegala.
The boys from the heart of Colombo had an unsettled pre-season when one of their most successful coaches who has won 3 Royal-Thomian’s out of 5 under his guidance, was removed from his position to be replaced by former Sri Lanka cricketer Avishka Gunawardane. Another setback of sorts was that the team was asked to play in the second division of the schools cricket tournament as a penalty for opting out of the league 2 years back. Previously S Thomas was meted out the same sentence but were fortunate to be allowed to play last year in the division I category. The reason for this given by the two schools was the already existing heavy schedule given that they have 16 traditional fixtures.
Setting aside all the odds, the team led by 3rd year coloursman Harith Samarasinghe recorded an impressive win against St. Anne’s College, Kurunegala by displaying some attacking cricket with sporty declarations and an impressive display of adapting to situations.
Royal took first lease of a quite sticky wicket which had a lot of grip in the early hours of the game. It didn’t take long for the Kurunegala boys to bundle up the Royalists to a mere 168 runs. Opener Naveen Withanapathirana made the only respectable score for the Blue and gold boys making a hard earned 30 runs off 61 balls.
Wickets fell at regular intervals where Wanitha Wanninayake took 4 for 22 runs while being supported by his ball sharers and fielders.
Royal 1st innings – 168 all out. (53.4 overs)
On a drying wicket the St. Anne’s openers got off to a disastrous start losing their first wicket at 4, debutant Chandula Weliwita picked up the wicket of Tharindu wijeysinghe with an unplayable delivery which smashed on to the stumps. The St. Anne’s batting collapsed like a pack of cards with just 2 batsmen reaching double figures. It was a mascaraed with the ball by skipper Samarasinghe who picked up 5 for 15 runs while left armer Lasith Embuldeniya and pacey Chandula Weliwita taking 3 and 2 wickets a piece.
St. Anne’s College 1st inning – 76 all out (34.4 overs)
Opener Withanapathirana didn’t impress in the 2nd innings falling with the score at just 6 runs. The previous years’ Royal opener and the current vice-captain Geeshath Panditharatne put up a healthy partnership along with Hasitha Samarasinghe with both reaching a decent scores. Panditharatne ended on a well compiled 51 which included 6 fours and a hit over the rope while Samarasinghe got a 25. Bata most popular school boy cricketer Randev Pathirana made a good 40 runs but couldn’t convert it, falling short of his crease running between wickets. The St. Anne’s bowlers didn’t look too threatening for the Royal College batsmen who accumulated runs all around the wicket with ease.
Royal College 2nd Inning – 136/5 dec. (30.1 overs)
With a target of 228 runs to win the match the boys from the center of the country looked more settled in their approach, faring a little better than their performance in the first innings. Tharindu Wijeysinghe and Dilanka Masakkara made 38 runs each while Malshan Perera knocked up a good 21 runs. Most of the damage in the bowling department of Royal College was done by skipper Samarasinghe who took 6 wickets with a match bag of 11 while being well supported by Lasith who captured 3 wickets for 27 with a match bag of 6 wickets.
Royal College won the match by bundling up St. Anne’s College for 147 runs. The boys from Reid Avenue played an attacking breed of cricket and if this momentum could be continued till March the Thomian’s will have much to deal with.
St. Anne’s College 2nd Inning – 147 all out (56.5 overs)
Chief Scores
Royal 1st Inning – 168 all out. (53.4 overs)
Naveen Withanapathirana 30. Wanitha Wanninayake 4/22
St. Anne’s College 1st inning – 76 all out (34.4 overs)
Wanitha Wanninayake 17. Harith Samarasinghe 5/15. Lasith Embuldeniya 3/24, Chandula Weliwita 2/11
Royal College 2nd Inning – 136/5 dec. (30.1 overs)
Geeshath Panditharatne 51, Randev Pathirana 40. Sudesh Kumarage 2/34
St. Anne’s College 2nd Inning – 147 all out (56.5 overs)
Tharindu Wijeysinghe 38, Dilanka Masakkara 38. Harith Samarasinghe 6/76, Lasith Embuldeniya 3/27.
Royal College won by 81 runs.
