Jayawardenapura battle ends in a tame draw

By M. Shamil Amit

The seventeenth Battle of Jayawardenapura between Ananda Sastralaya Kotte and St John’s Nugegoda concluded at the Colts ground yesterday in a tame draw.

St John’s set an impossible target of 203 runs in just 15 overs by the Sastralians ended the day on 59 for 2. Earlier in the day St John’s resuming on their overnight score of 83 for 4 went on to make 143 in reply to their opponent’s score of 151.
The match was destined to end in a draw as the Sastralians after having dismissed the Johnians before the lunch session making a negative move with their slow batting approach.

A positive move by them could have made the encounter more interesting. Instead they opted to bat on and by the time they declared the writing was on the wall.

The only highlight of the game was the twin half tons scored by Sastralaya’s Akila Madusanka who followed his 68 in the first with an unbeaten 55 in the second innings with seven boundaries.

Akila along with opener Pawan Dileepa put on a third wicket partnership of 113 runs with Pawan making the top score of 74 inclusive of ten boundaries and a six.

The Sastralians bagged three of the trophies that were on offer with Akila Madusanka taking the man of the match award, Videshara Shenuka the best bowler and Supun Salgado the fielding prize while Thanil Jayan of St John’s took the best batsman’s award.

Ananda Sastralaya 151 (Akila Madusanka 68; Himalaka Perera 3 for 18, Charith Nirmala 3 for 31, Keshawa Eranda 3 for 42) and 194 for 4 declared (Pawan Dileepa 74, Thisal Karunatunge 43, Akila Madusanka 55 n.o.)

St John’s (83/4 o’night) 143 (Thanil Jayan 41, Daham Liyanage 31; Videshara Shenuka 4 for 22, Mamiya Devinda 3 for 34, Shiran Bhatiya 2 for 39) and 59 for 2 (Daham Liyanage 22, Mayura Ranasinghe 17 n.o.)