S.Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia notched an outright win this weekend as they recorded a seven wicket victory over St. Anthony’s Katugastota in their Under 19 Division 1 cricket fixture.
The Thomians won the toss and invited their opponents to take first lease of the wicket. The Antonians struggled against the Thomian bowling department, mustering only a 169 runs before being bundled out in less than 70 overs. Tharindi Ratnayake was the chief destroyer for the home side, bagging five wickets for just 39 runs. He was aided by Helakamal Nanayakkara and Sajana De Silva who chipped in with two wickets each. For the Antonians, only Kanishka Uggalpaya and Dilan Bandara managed to score over 30.
Batting in their innings, the Thomians were left in a precarious state at close of play on the first day, having only managed 75 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. It was left to Chenutha Wickramasinghe and Nipuna Gamage to right the ship for the home team, as they put on a 98 run stand for the fifth wicket. Wickramasinghe was the chief run scorer in the partnership, moving on to 80 from his overnight score of 17, before being run out. Gamage went on to score an unbeaten 45 runs before the Thomians decided to declare on a score of 207 for 7 with a lead of 38 runs, attempting to force the issue.
The ploy worked, as the Antonians crumbled once more under pressure, being bundled out for a 116 runs. Tharindu Ratnayake once again contributed with three wickets, but it was right arm off spinner Sajana De Silva who took centre stage, picking up 5 for 50. The Thomians were set a target of 78 runs for the outright victory, with 18 overs of play remaining. They ended up needing only 11 as they knocked off the runs for the loss of only three wickets. Ravindu Sasanka was the top scorer in this innings with an unbeaten 37.
