The 1st XI cricket match between St.Servatius College Matara and St.Sebestian’s College which was held at the Matara Uyanwatte Stadium on 26th and 27th of February ended in an ugly brawl as a fight between players extended to parents getting on the field which resulted in the match being abandoned.
On the morning of the first day St Servatius won the toss and opted to bat first which proved to be a good decision on a batting friendly wicket. They put up a massive score of 316. Kavindu Umesh lead the Servatius innings with an outstanding 92 including 12 fours and Ramesh Nimantha contributed 57 runs to the scoreboard. The Matara lads were deterred by the bowling of Tharusha Fernando and Nimesh Bandara who grabbed 7 wickets between themselves. They removed the last 4 batsmen for a mere 29 runs.
St Sebastian’s came out to chase the steep target around tea where they had to defend 316 in the first innings in order to qualify for the semi-final.
The visitors for 184/4 when a dispute between batsman and bowler turned into a fully-fledged brawl where parents of the players also got into the middle.
The match officials tried their best to resolve the dispute between the two teams and continue the match but unfortunately the parents were relentless and the officials had no choice but to call off the match.
The visiting Sebs seemed determined to attack the 316 and at the time of the stoppage captain Avishka Fernando and Sandaruwan Fernando were on 48 and 40 respectively. Ashen Deemantha had done the damage with 3 wickets for 78 runs for the home side.
The result of this game will be decided by the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association who will hold an inquiry into the incident and come up with an eventual ruling.
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Summary:
St.Servatius College-316/10(71.2),Kavindu Umesh 92,Ramesh Nimantha 57,Tharusha Fernando 4/44,Nimesh Bandara3/60
St.Sebestians College-184/4(68)Avishka Fernando 48*,Sandaruwan Fernando 40,Ashen Deemantha 3/78
