An all-round performance from Sandun Mendis guided Richmond College Galle to a comfortable victory against St Peter’s College in the Singer U19 Limited Overs Tournament Final that was played at the Galle International Cricket Stadium today.
After electing to bat first, Richmond were 106 for 6 when Mendis arrived at the crease to join Dilum Sudeera. The pair struggled early on against the spinners but after getting through the initial overs, they managed to keep the scoreboard ticking. Mendis was the dominant partner, as he went on to make 42 off 57 deliveries.
His partnership with Sudeera took Richmond to 201 for 9 in their allocated 50 overs. Even though they struggled to get to 201, they started off in rollicking fashion with Dhananjaya Lakshan scoring a quick fire 21. The top order batsmen got starts but some rash shots coupled with tight bowling caused a collapse in the batting line up which put them in trouble at 106 for 6.
Miflal Ameen and Kanishka Maduwantha shared 2 wickets apiece and together with Sachin Silva they did a marvelous job in restricting the run flow for the Peterites.
In reply, the Peterites made a surprise change in the batting order. Miflal Ameen walked into bat with skipper Santhush Gunathilaka. It proved to be a mistake when both Gunathilaka and Ameen was clean bowled by Dhananjaya Lakshan in the very first over.
However, Sulakshana and Shanon Fernando steadied the ship for the them as Sulakshana slammed three boundaries off Lakshan to get the score going while Shannon flicked one off his pads for a maximum. The pair were going smoothly but it was Sandun Mendis once again who came to the rescue of the Richmondites.
He struck twice in his first over, taking the wickets of Sulakshana Fernando for 25 and Ranmith Jayasena for a 2 ball duck. The Peterites were in dire straits and it did not get any better for them. One of the experienced players of the side Shalith Fernando fell shortly afterwards for 12, cleaned bowled by Mendis.
The Peterites needed a partnership but it wasn’t the case as Mendis struck once again with the wicket of Dinith Anjula. Wickets kept tumbling as Pabasara Herath chipped one straight to mid-on off the bowling of Avindu Theekshana.
The Peterite tail was given the responsibility of taking the team home but it proved to be too much despite Kanishka Maduwantha’s fighting 39.
Richmond ended up as deserving champions and it was Sandun Mendis who was unsurprisingly named Man of the Match for his performance with both bat and ball.
Sandun Mendis speaking to ThePapare.com said,
“I went in at a pressure situation. I was asked to play until the 40th over and somehow get the total up to 150 but we put up 200 runs. In the run chase also, when Shanon and Sachin were batting our main target was to bowl dot deliveries and create pressure and ultimately we managed to get the wickets.”
