Trinity Lions overcame a gallant Josephian outfit by 1 wicket in an evenly contested low scoring under 17 division 1 semi-final encounter played at BRC grounds on Thursday.
The Trinitians managed to get over the line in the 47th over courtesy a wide as a nerve-wrecking match came to an end with Hasitha Boyagoda being the batting hero for the boys from Kandy as he scored an unbeaten and valuable 23 runs in the end.
Josephian skipper Kesara Kumarapperuma won the toss and elected to bat first on a slow surface at Havelock Town. The Josephians never found rhythm of scoring free runs as they were tightened by the Trinity spinners on a spin-friendly surface. Josephian opener Sandaruwan Rodrigo played a gem of an innings as he carried his top order with a fluent 34 runs in 64 balls but the best knock came off Thashan Perera’s bat as he came into the rescue as the Josephians were restricted to 75 for the loss of 5 wickets with 30 overs done and dusted. The all-rounder scored a patient and unbeaten 48 runs with 4 boundaries to help his team set a par score of 143 for 9 in 50 overs.
Dilan Samarasinghe was the most impressive bowler as he picked up 3 wickets for 25 runs and left-arm spinner Shanogeeth Shanmuganadan captured 2 wickets giving away only 24 runs.
Chasing 144 runs to victory, Trinity got off to a blazing start as their opening pair put on 53 runs for the 1st wicket before the left-arm spin twins of Harin Cooray and Malshan Rodrigo wrecked through the Trinity middle order to restrict them to 86 for 7 with only 15 overs finished. Opener, Shanogeeth scored 40 runs with 5 boundaries and 2 maximums.
Trinity found an able partnership between Hasitha Boyagoda and Y.Pitawela as they managed to scrape their team near the winning target with a gritty 46 runs partnership. Pitawela scored 26 while Boyagoda remained unbeaten till the final ball as Josephians lost the plot with 21 balls remaining. Harin and Malshan captured 4 wickets apiece but ended up in the losing side.
Trinity College will take on the winners of the 2nd semi-final between St. Sebastian’s College vs Richmond College.
Chief Scores:
St. Josephs – 143/9 in 50 overs :Thashan Perera 48*, Sadaruwan Rodrigo 34, Dilan Samarasinghe 3-25, Shanogeeth Shanmuganadan 2-24.
Trinity – 144/9 in 46.3 overs: Shanogeeth Shanmuganadan 40, Y. Pitawela 26, Hasitha Boyagoda 23*, Harin Cooray 4-23, Malshan Rodrigo 4-25.
