Thurstan College staged a superb performance to beat the formidable St. Joseph’s College outfit by 73 runs in the semi-final rematch worked out at BRC grounds on Tuesday.
Both teams had to go head to head once again after their initial semi-final encounter was tied on scores last week. Josephian skipper won the toss and elected to field first surprisingly. Josephian seamers restricted the Thurstan top 3 batsmen for only 23 runs before their middle order resurrected the innings. Skipper Kavindu Kulasekara and Charana Nanayakkara scored half centuries and were involved in a match winning 84 runs partnership for the 6th wicket.
Thurstan got to a reasonable 233 runs in their allotted 50 overs. Right arm medium fast bowler Duran De Alwis took 3 wickets while Aravinda Akurugoda and Fabian Fernando enjoyed two successes each.
Chasing an above par score of 234 to victory, the Josephians were rattled by Achintha Kalpana’s left arm pace as he ripped through the top order with an impressive opening spell. They never leaped out of the hole as they struggled towards 73 runs with 7 wickets down. Pathum Madusanka and Aravinda Akurugoda counter attacked with fierce hitting in an attempt for salvation but the Thurstan spinners got the final wickets to clinch a stunning win to book their place in the finals.
Pathum Madusanka played a lone hand of 78 runs while Aravinda made a 27 ball 27 runs while Arjun Gunawardene and Senal Wijesinghe took 2 wickets each apart of Achintha Kalpana’s 3 wicket haul.
Chief Scores:
Thurstan – 233/9 in 50 overs : Charana Nanayakkara 50, Kavindu Kulasekara 51, Thimira Jayasinghe 29, Arjun Gunawardene 28, Duran De Alwis 3/40, Fabian Fernando 2/45, Aravinda Akurugoda 2/30.
St. Joseph’s – 160 all out in 44.2 overs : Pathum Madusank 78, Aravinda Akurugoda 27, Achintha Kalpana 3/16, Senal Wijesinghe 2/9, Arjun Gunawardene 2/30.
