Left-arm spinner Duvindu Tillakaratne and off-spinner Raveen Sayer shared 5 wickets to help Trinity College beat S. Thomas’ College by 16 runs at Surrey Village grounds in Maggona on Saturday in their 2nd quarter-final encounter and with this win, newly-crowned Schools League champions, booked their place in the semi-finals.
Trinity skipper Raveen Sayer won the toss of coin and elected to bat first on a high-pressure clash. Top order batsman Arjuna Jayasinghe stroked valuable 40 while Sanogeeth Shanmuganathan cracked 34 but the top-scorer for the team from Kandy was young Hasitha Boyagoda who fell just one run short of a well-deserved half ton. The Trinitians were bowled out for only 171 in their 49th over. Skipper and opening bowler, Helakamal Nanayakkara was the most impressive with the ball as he grabbed 5 wickets giving away only 32 runs. Vice-captain and leg-spinner Sachitha Jayathilake claimed 3 crucial scalps for 22 runs.
Chasing a tentative target of 172, Thomians managed only 155 as their strong batting lineup failed to stick in the wicket and score important runs after getting starts. Three batsmen, Sachitha Jayathilake (29), Chenutha Wickramasinghe (26) and Nipuna Gamage (23) were dismissed in 20s. Former Thomian left-arm seamer Duvindu Tillakaratne who joined Trinity two years ago and transformed himself into a potent left-arm spinner wrecked through his previous College team’s batting lineup taking 3 wickets for 25 while skipper Raveen picked up 2 wickets. Young Dilan Jayalath captured 2 wickets as well.
Trinity will meet DS Senanayake College in the semi-final on Thursday (April 2nd) at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium.
Trinity – 171 all out in 48.1 overs: Hasitha Boyagoda 49, Arjuna Jayasinghe 40, S Sanogeeth 34, Helakamal Nanayakkara 5/32, Sachitha Jayathilake 3/22.
S. Thomas’ – 155 all out in 41.3 overs: Sachitha Jayathilake 29, Chenutha Wickramasinghe 26, Nipuna Gamage 23, Duvindu Thilakarathne 3/25, Raveen Sayer 2/27, Dilan Jayalath 2/30.
