Royal fight back to win 1st Innings, Tharindu Dilshan with a captain’s knock for POW

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Published on Saturday, 18 February 2012 21:33

Written by Ameen Mohamed

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Unfortunately for cricket, rain last night meant the conditions for play being unsuitable in the morning. With both teams failing in their batting performances in the 1st Innings, a result seemed definitely a possibility, provided the match started as scheduled.

However, the 2nd day’s proceedings began well after lunch at around 1.30 p.m, which meant only around 45 overs could be bowled for the day.

Royal College, who were chasing the POW 1st Innings total of 139, were in tatters, having an overnight score of only 92 runs for the loss of 7 wickets. However, Poorna Aluthge who scored 30 runs, together with the rest of the tailenders, fought hard to go past the Prince of Wales 1st Innings total and record an all important 1st Innings win.

Sachith Pushpakumara was the most effective bowler for POW. He went on to take one more wicket and record a 5 wicket haul having conceded only 39 runs.  Thilan Nimesh took 3 wickets as well to help POW restrict Royal College to 151 runs.

Prince of Wales began their 2nd Innings with the opening batsman being bowled first ball by Chamika Karunarathne. They were in more trouble when the 2nd wicket fell in the very next over and they still had not scored a single run. However, the middle order bastmen played a bit more responsibly and steadied the POW innings which seemed to be heading towards a disaster. Captain Tharindu Dilshan who scored a half century in the 1st Innings played a blistering knock, scoring 117 not out in just 86 balls and took POW to a respectable total of 173 runs for the loss of 6 wickets at the end of the 2nd days play.

Left Arm Spinner, Harith Samarasinghe took 3 wickets for Royal College. However, Chamika Karunarathne, with his blistering pace, swung the ball both ways to keep the Cambrians on their feet and hopping around the crease.

Interestingly, the Royal College bowling attack could not take the wicket of the POW captain Tharindu Dilshan in both innings while star POW batsman Kusal Mendis fails to make an impression.

In conclusion, Royal managed to fight back from a being in big trouble and record an all important 1st Innings win in this tournament fixture. However, the highlight of this match will definitely be Tharindu Dilshan’s century, which took him past the 1000 run milestone this season.

Scores in brief

Prince of Wales College 1st Innings – 139 all out in 40 overs.
(Tharindu Dilshan 69*, Poorna Aluthge 3 for 33.)

Royal College 1st Innings – 92 for 7 wickets overnight and 151 all out in 46.5 overs.
(Chamika Karunarathne 30, Poorna Aluthge 30, Isuru Gunathilake 24, Sachith Pushpakumara 5 for 39, Thilan Nimesh 3 for 56.)

Prince of Wales College 2nd Innings – 173 for 6 wickets in 30 overs.
(Tharindu Dilshan 117*, Ashen Mendis 29, Harith Samarasinghe 3 for 30.)

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