Miflal Ameen, Chathura Obeysekara and Sachin Silva took 3 each as St Peter’s registered a massive win by an innings and 10 runs against St Sebastian’s College in the Singer U19 Div I Cricket Tournament at St Peter’s College Grounds.

Peter’s were cruising at stumps on day 1 at 289 for 6 and skipper Lakshina Rodrigo decided to make the declaration over night with a deficit of 210 in favour of them. The visitors had a daunting task ahead of them and coming back from a difficult first day, all odds were against them. Sebs made a few changes to their batting order in the second innings with Nuwanidu Fernando opening the batting with skipper Nimesh Bandara. After the damage the Peterite seamers did in the first innings, the pressure was on the openers but this time they responded well. The pair added 54 runs and most importantly managed to bat out 18 overs.

Photos: St.Peter’s v St.Sebastian’s | Singer U19 Schools Cricket – Day 1

Miflal Ameen got the wicket of Nuwanidu for 22 and this wicket was followed by two more which put Sebastians 112 for 3 before lunch. Tharusha Fernando and Nimesh Bandara added 61 runs for the 4th wicket with skipper Nimesh scoring a fighting knock of 59 runs before he top edged an easy catch to Ranmith Jayasena at covers. Tharusha Fernando looked good for his brisk 44 but he also fell shortly afterwards thanks to brilliant catch by Santhush Gunathilake in the slips. Malintha Peiris and Tashik Perera were removed cheaply by Sachin which put the visitors 185 for 7 at tea.

Dulaj Shalinda and Asher Warnakulasuriya fought hard and managed to occupy the crease for a period of 21 overs and it was Peterite main striker Miflal Ameen who cleaned up Asher from an absolute peach of a delivery. Dulaj held up one end facing 85 balls for his 10 runs but the two tail-enders fell shortly afterwards. Sebastian’s were bowled out for 200 runs in 74.5 overs which gave St Peter’s a massive win by an innings and 10 runs.

Early on, Nimesh Bandara won the toss and elected to bat first. Santhush Gunathilaka and Shivaan Perera ripped apart the Sebastian batting line up within the first session, cleaning them up for a mere 79 runs. Shivaan bagged his first 5-for in the season while Santhush Gunathilake took 4 wickets from the other end. In reply, Peterites were in trouble early on with 3 wickets down for 31 but a magnificent partnership between Lakshina Rodrigo and Shalith Fernando helped the home side posted 289 for 6. The pair added 231 runs with skipper Lakshina Rodrigo scoring 138 runs off just 144 balls while Shalith missed out on his first century when he was dismissed for 94.

St Sebastian’s College : 1st innings 79 all out in 24.4 overs – Damien De Buyzer 16, Shivaan Perera 5/20, Santhush Gunathilake 4/31

St Peter’s College : 1st innings 289 for 6 dec. in 69.1 overs – Lakshina Rodrigo 138, Shalith Fernando 94, Ravindu Silva 21*, Vinuja Ranasinghe 2/78, Asher Warnakulasuriya 2/36

St Sebastian’s College : 2nd innings 200 all out in 74.5 overs –  Nimesh Bandara 59, Tharusha Fernando 44, Asher Waranakulasurya 33, Nuwanidu Fernando 22, Chathura Obeysekara 3/34, Sachin Silva 3/67, Mohomada Ameen 3/37