Eighteen year old Benedictine right-arm off spinner Geethika Jayathilake took a match bag of 8 wickets to thrash St. Aloysius College by an innings and 44 runs in their under 19 division 1 encounter played at Galle International Stadium.
The visiting skipper Mahel Jayalath won the toss and elected to field first. The home team was rocked by Geethika Jayathilake’s spin as he took a 5-wicket haul which ensured St. Aloysius were bowled out for 102 in the 44th over. Middle-order batsman Ashen Bandara was the only player to succeed with the bat as he made 27.
The boys from Kotahena in their reply made 240 runs for the loss of 8 wickets before declaring the innings. Skipper Mahel Jayalath and Sithum Wijesinghe made fighting half-centuries. Three bowlers – Sithum Sankalpa, Gihan Niroshan and Hareen Weerasinghe took 2 wickets apiece.
The home town lads had to bat out the rest of day 2 which was a daunting task but they eventually failed to cope up with the high-quality bowling of the Benedictines. St. Aloysius managed only to score 94 all out with Navidu Nirmal top-scoring with 35. Geethika Jayathilake and Ruvinda Nivunhella shared 6 wickets equally.
Chief Scores:
St. Aloysius College (1st inn) – 102 all out in 43.2 overs: Ashen Bandara 27, Geethaka Jayathilake 5/46, Geethal Fernando 2/14.
St. Aloysius College (2nd inn) – 94 all out in 47.1 overs: Navindu Nirmal 35, Ruwinda Nivunhella 3/18, Geethaka Jayathilake 3/32, Geethal Fernando 2/5.
St. Benedicts College (1st inn) – 240/8 declared in 73.4 overs: Mahel Jayalath 59, Sithum Wijesinghe 54, Sithum Sankalpa 2/48, Gihan Niroshan 2/62, Hareen Weerasinghe 2/69.
