Lumbini College, Colombo recorded an emphatic outright victory over Ananda College, Colombo by a comfortable 10-wicket margin in their Tournament Opening Away encounter of the Inter-School U-19 Division-1 Two-Day Cricket Tournament 2023-2024.
The match worked off at Ananda College Grounds (04th & 05th), where Ananda traditionally does very well, but that did not deter the visitors as they carried forward the outstanding form they gained by becoming the Joint Champions of the Division-1 Limited Overs Tournament 2023–24.
Lumbini had no hesitation whatsoever in deciding to bat first. Having won the toss, Lumbini built a formidable total of 297. Bimsara Weerasinghe, the opener missing out on a fine century, scored 93 runs off just 76 deliveries (11 boundaries and 2 maximums) and batted aggressively to take the initiative away from the Ananda bowlers as they picked up two early wickets for just 19 runs. Bimsara and Dinitha Prabanka built a solid 137-run stand for the third wicket, with Dinitha contributing 64 runs that included 10 boundaries. Useful contributions from Ashan Shanilka (25) and Gihan Lakshitha (31) propelled Lumbini to 297.
Ananda, in reply, got off to a solid opening stand of 57 runs before Praveen Maneesha removed Mihin Munasinghe for 23. The top scorer for Ananda was Nethula Edirimanne, with a patient knock of 35 runs off 82 balls, including 4 boundaries. Ananda started losing wickets regularly as they bundled out just 127 runs in the first inning. Right-arm leg spinner Praveen Maneesha destroyed Ananda with seven wickets for just 39 runs.
Following on with a deficit of 170 runs, Ananda scored 173 all out in the second innings, an improvement in comparison to the first innings, but nowhere near enough to trouble Lumbini as they needed to score just 04 runs to register a resounding outright win, which they did with ease with all 10 wickets in hand.
Skipper Sahan Kaushalya bagged 5 wickets for 28 runs, Praveen Maneesha chipped in with 2 more wickets (match bag 9 wickets), and Ushan Sathsara picked up 3 wickets to add to Ananda’s agony.
High on confidence, Lumbini College will take on Thurstan College next at Thurstan Grounds Colombo 07 on January 12th & 13th, 2024.
Brief Scores
Lumbini College – 297 (57.2) Bimsara Weerasinghe 93, Dinitha Prabanka 64, Gihan Lakshitha 31, Yasandu Kiriella 4/54, Ashinsa Nainayaka 3/52 & 4/0
Ananda College – 127 (50) Nethula Edirimanne 35, Mihin Munasinghe 23, Praveen Maneesha 7/39, Ushan Sathsara 2/43 & 173 (50.4) Kanchana De Livera 38, Kenul De Zoysa 26, Sahan Kaushalya 5/28, Ushan Sathsara 3/20, Praveen Maneesha 2/63
Result – Lumbini College won by 10 wickets
