Junior cricketers from Ananda College brought honour and glory to their alma mater when they defeated the fancied St. Sebastian’s College by 5 wickets in the SLSCA under 15 division 1 final worked out at R. Premadasa Stadium on Saturday.
Sebs skipper Tharusha Fernando won the toss of coin and elected to bat first on a perfect day for cricket in Colombo. The boys from Moratuwa got off to another blazing start thanks to their consistent opening pair of Nuwanidu Fernando and Nishitha Abilash as they put on 83 runs for the 1st wicket before Anandian spinner Lakshitha Amarasekara separated the two openers. Nuwanindu top-scored making a brisk half-century including 7 fours in a classic knock while Nishitha Abilash stroked 41 runs in 63 balls.
Sebastanites went through a lean patch in the middle overs as they were restricted by the well-disciplined Ananda bowlers. Manthila Wijerathne and skipper Tharusha Fernando batted sensibly in the final 10 overs to give their bowlers something to bowl at as the pair put on 61 runs for the unbroken 7th wicket. Manthila scored 41 runs with 4 fours and a six while Tharusha made 24 runs. Lakshitha Amarasekara and Daminda Reshan captured 2 wickets each for Ananda as their opponents posted 210/6 at the end of the 50-over mark.
Chasing a par score of 211 to win the championship, Ananda lost two quick wickets early on as the Sebs bowlers struck early. Ashel Sigera and Shamal Hirushan combined perfectly for Ananda as they built a dogged yet valuable partnership of 78 runs for the 3rd wicket before Ashel was dismissed for a well-compiled 62 runs and his innings comprised 5 fours and a massive six.
Thisara Santhusha walked in as the number 5 batsman for Ananda and he put on a handy stand of 60 runs for the 4th wicket. Shamal Hirushan was the top-runs scorer for Ananda as he made 65 runs while Thisara chipped in with 22 runs. Sebs got back into the game as they removed both the set batsmen as the score read 167 for 5 at one stage. Skipper Lahiru Hiranya and all-rounder Daminda Reshan made sure Ananda go through and win the match in the 48th over as they guided the chase with a gutsy 45 runs under pressure. Nuwanindu Fernando picked up 2 key wickets for St. Sebastian’s College while Ashel Sigera was named the Man of the Match for his terrific knock of 62.
Chief Scores:
St. Sebastian’s – 210/6 in 50 overs: Nuwanindu Fernando 50, Manthila Wijeratne 41*, Nishitha Abilash 41, Tharusha Fernando 24*, Vinuja Ranasinghe 20, Daminda Roshan 2/13, Lakshitha Amarasekara 2/21.
Ananda – 212/5 in 47.4 overs: Shamal Hirushan 65, Asel Sigera 62, Lahiru Hiranya 28*, Thisara Santhusha 22, Daminda Roshan 15*, Nuwanindu Fernando 2/36.
