Richmond going great guns, the side to keep an eye on
View(s):Under 19 School Cricket Review
By M. Shamil Amit
The Under 19 inter-school cricket season which is in full swing with matches being played around the island almost everyday has seen some outstanding performances being achieved by young cricketers from the outstations. It was also unfortunate as most of the third term matches were hindered by bad weather which forced some of the schools to postpone or cancel the fixtures.
A Richmond batsman demonstrating his fighting qualities against Prince of Wales’ in their first XI match played at Moratuwa. - Pix by Amila Gamage.
Most of the top notch schools have been in action for the last few weeks but the best has been Richmond College Galle who is going great guns having so far recorded five outright wins and looks the team for the others to beat.
Richmond who posses a fighting outfit comprising of experience and talented youngsters began the season in style when they defeated S. Thomas’ in their own den and that win gave the boys from Galle the much needed boost and confidence.
Richmond showed that the win was not a flash in the pan as they followed it up with another resounding win over Ananda and that too at the home ground of Ananda.
Their third win was against Maliyadeva which was followed by wins over Kingswood and neighbouring town opponents Dharmasoka MV from Ambalangoda and they so far are unbeaten.
St. Peter’s and Royal are the other two successful teams with the Peterites having secured five outright wins but they have undergone an outright defeat to St Sebastian’s while Royal have four outright wins under their belt.
St. Benedict’s batsman Madura Madushan in full swing against St. Sebanstian’s in their first XI cricket match which was played at Moratuwa last week.
The last three wins for Royal were in succession with the two wins against Dharmarajah and Thurstan which came within the space of four days.
Zahira in the meantime have recorded three wins while St. Sebastian’s and S. Thomas’ have so far two outright wins each while the champion team of last year Trinity has been able to achieve only one win.
The surprise and most disappointing teams have been the two big names in school cricket, traditional rivals Ananda and Nalanda. Ananda have so far suffered two outright defeats to Richmond and Dharmasoka MV while Nalanda underwent a shock defeat to lesser known Lumbini MV.
The two week ending saw 14 outright wins being recorded with Royal, St. Peter’s and Bandaranayake MMV Gampaha being responsible having two each. Royal overcame Dharmaraja by innings and then four days later got the better of Thurstan by ten wickets.
St. Peter’s too had successive wins both with an innings margin against Maris Stella Negombo and Lumbini MV while Bandaranayake MMV Gampaha was successful over St. Patrick’s Jaffna and Asoka MV Colombo.
Dharmasoka MV who are having fluctuated fortunes got the better of Revatha MMV Balapitiya by innings while the other teams to
A Moratu Vidyalaya batsman takes a quick run against Thurstan at Stanley Wijesundera Mawatha.
record wins were Kalutara MV over P. de S. Kularatne MV Ambalangoda by seven wickets, DSS over Lumbini MV by nine wickets, St. Thomas Kotte against St Sebastian’s Katuneriya by innings, St. Anne’s Kurunegala defeating Sri Devananda Ambalangoda by ten wickets.
St. Servatius Matara is having a good season this year and has been consistent with their latest win being against Maliyadeva whom they overcame by six wickets. In the lower division Sri Sumangala Hikkaduwa along with Ibbagamuwa MMV and President’s College Maharagama too found the winning post when they recorded wins over Gintota MV, Devapathiraja MMV Rathgama and Ananda Sastralaya Kotte respectively.
Looking at the individual batting performances there were two double tons recorded over the week with Pasindu Madusanka of Bandaranayake MMV Gampaha achieving the feat first when he slammed an unbeaten 202 against Asoka MV. This was followed by another unbeaten 200 by Pawan Devinda of Mahanama Colombo which he achieved against Dharmapala Pannipitiya. In the same match Palians Prashan Ratnayake was unfortunate to miss out on a double ton by two runs as he was stranded on 198 when his side was bowled out for 329 to Mahanama’s 301 which they won in the first inning in a heavy scoring game.
Royal College cricketers celebrate a Dharmaraja wicket at Reid Avenue.
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