Ananda Shasthralaya in Kotte claimed a 1st inning victory over St. John’s College Nugegoda in the 22nd Battle of Sri Jayawardenapura . The epic encounter was held at RPS on 6th and 7th of April.
Coming into this game St. John’s College had enjoyed a good season with two outright wins and five first innings wins. While Thimira Malshan, the skipper of Ananda Shasthralaya College earlier said that they are capable of giving the Johnians a good fight.
Ananda Shasthralaya College won the toss and decided to field first which saw raising few eye brows of some spectators .The Johnians came out to bat on a typical Premadasa pitch which always gives an advantage to batsmen but they were surprisingly struggling during the whole inning which only got them to 188 in 65.5overs. Skipper Nuraj Prasanna was the lone warrior as he scored 81 runs and Sanjaya Thelwakumara managed to get 36 runs.
Johnians innings was destroyed by Venuk Hettiarachchi who took 6 wickets for just 20 runs and Isuru Awinda chipped in with 3 wickets.
After a very good performance with the ball Ananda Shasthralaya College came out to bat. From the start of the innings they were on the front foot as their batsmen looked to score runs quickly. Main contributors were Sonara Karunathunga and Thimira Malshan as they scored 83 and 73 respectively. Isuru Avinda got 27 runs too. They decided to declare their innings at 278 with the fall of 9 wickets as they got a lead of 90 runs. For Johnians, Mithila Poornajith took 3 for 61 and Thanusha Sandaruwan took 3 for 62
The Johnians came out to start their 2nd innings and again they struggled to score against St. John’s College the fiery power bowling attack of Ananda Shasthralaya College. However they managed hold their innings until the day’s play end. They finished their Inning at 114 for 6 wickets in 43overs. The highest run scorer was Theshan Malinda(22). Venuk Hettiarachchi took another 4 wickets to complete his 10 wicket haul in the match
Ananda Shasthralaya came up with the 1st inning win!!!
Brief scores
St. John’s College Nugegoda – 188 (65.5) Nuraj Prasanna 81, Sanjaya Thelwakumara 36,Venuk Hettiarachchi 6/28,Isuru Avinda 3/58 & 114/6 (43) Theshan Malinda 22, Venuk Hettiarachchi 4/49
Ananda Shasthralaya College Kotte – 278/9d (65.3) Sonara Karunathunga 83,Thimira Malshan 73, Isuru Avinda 27, Mithila Poornajith 3/61, Thanusha Sandaruwan 3/62
