St Anthony’s College, Wattala and St Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa held their nerve to snatch nail biting victories in their respective Pre-Quarter Final matches in the Singer U17 Division I Cricket Tournament today.
>>St. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia cruise to the quarter finals<<
St Peter’s College vs St Anthony’s College, Wattala
The lads from Wattala won the toss and elected to field first. The strong Peterite batting line up got off to a shaky start loosing 3 wickets for just 45 runs but a 73-run stand for the 5th wicket between Shenal Boteju and Himsara Randeniya took them to a commanding position at the half way mark. Shenal top scored with a sensible 68 while Himsara missed out on a well-deserved half century when he was dismissed for 47 runs.
However, it was the knock from Vinuda Liyanage which propelled the Peterites to 248 in their allocated 50 overs. Vinuda scored an unbeaten 47 off just 59 deliveries with 2 maximums and 3 boundaries. For the Anthonians Clifford Elymes picked up 3 wickets.
The chase from the visitors started off in horrific fashion. Prabashwara Herath struck in two consecutive deliveries in the 2nd over of the game to dismiss the two openers. Skipper Avishka Tharidu had to resurrect the innings and he did so through a well composed innings of 68. He laid the foundation in the middle overs which allowed their hard hitters to come into the game later on.
Sankitha Hirushan and Osanda Jayathilaka stepped on the gas and the game turned towards the boys from Wattala. The final few runs came in a flourish as Abdul Rahman and Chamika Dilshan went berserk and got their team over the line with 9 balls to spare. St Anthony’s College took the win by 2 wickets to seal their spot in the quarter finals.
St Sebastians College vs Thurstan College
St Sebastian’s College won the toss and elected to bat first at their home grounds. It was tough going for them against some good bowling from the Thurstan College bowlers. Sukitha Prasanna played the anchor role in the side as he guided his team through a well composed innings of 60 runs. He found good support from a few cameos in the middle by Dunith Jayathunga and Janishka Perera who scored 35 and 33 respectively. With the ball in hand for Thurstan College, Bawantha Jayasinghe and Hirudith Hemachandra picked up 4 wickets each as they restricted the home side to 236 for 9.
Thurstan College in reply looked in control in most parts of their innings. Sanuth Nandinu, Ranesh Silva and Bawantha Jayasinghe controlled the run chase brilliantly as all three of them scored half centuries. The hosts however kept on taking wickets at regular intervals and ultimately Thurstan College were bundled out for 230 runs in the 48th over. Janishka Perera was the pick of the bowlers for the home side with 3 wickets as they snatched victory by just 6 runs to seal their spot in the quarter finals.
