Hettiwatte stomps as Samarakoon errs
View(s):84th Battle of the Maroons
Nalanda make highest total of the series
By Naushad Amit
Middle order batsmen Pramud Hettiwatte and Avishka de Silva gave what could be considered as best for Nalanda College who stood tall against Ananda College at stumps on first day of the 84th Battle of the Maroons which began at the SSC yesterday. Belligerent Hettiwatte hit an unbeaten 102 and de Silva played the anchor to remain unbeaten on 77 as Nalanda declared at 298 for 5 wickets recording its highest team total for Nalanda.
At stumps Ananda were 14 for no loss.
Hettiwatte joined with de Silva when Nalanda were five down at 131 and went on to feature in a massive unbroken partnership of 167 runs for the sixth wicket. This enabled Nalanda to rise with an astounding run feast after being put into bat. Ananda skipper Thushara Samarakoon who won the toss made a surprise call by inviting their opponents to bat first on a track which looked full of runs.
Hettiwatte smashed 102 off just 87 balls, hitting one of the fastest centuries of the encounter laced with 12 hard-hit boundaries. De Silva was more or less a spectator at the opposite end. Yet he was more settled and influential. His knock was more of a marathon, coming from 173 balls with nine boundaries and was rock solid. He along with Hettiwatte helped Nalanda prove whatever Samarakoon had in his mind was erroneous. One-down bat Malinga Amarasinghe hit an elegant 60 and opener Woshantha Silva made a run-a-ball 37 earlier on for the Campbell Place boys. Eventually the foursome’s knocks helped Nalanda, a mediocre outfit in comparison to their rivals Ananda, take command by reaching a competitive total.
Nalanda batsmen Avishka de Silva and Pramud Hettiwatte walk back to the dressing room after adding an unbroken stand of 167 runs for the sixth wicket against Ananda. - Pic by Amila Gamage
Ananda used six bowlers- two pacemen and four spinners- with the intention of curtailing their opponents. However Big Match rookie Sammu Ashan was Ananda’s surprise package, claiming three priceless top order wickets of Nalanda. The pair of Anandian fast bowlers, Venuka Ashan and Tiran Wijesuriya, bowled 19 overs together but came up with nothing apart from the early wicket of opener Malinga de Silva, who was clean bowled by the former for nine.
Opener Silva and Amarasinghe put together 52 runs for the second wicket before off-spinner Ashan claimed his first scalp. He had Silva caught by skipper Samarakoon at mid on for 37 after hitting six fours and a six. Amarasinghe, who regained form after a short lapse, looked unstoppable and totally relaxed but Nalanda skipper Lahiru Jayakody had very little time to settle. Jayakody was caught at slips after getting off the duck but not before adding 10 runs for the third wicket with Amarasinghe, who formed another brief partnership of 25 runs for the fourth wicket with Lahiru Wijeratne, who made 10 runs.
Amarasinghe’s marathon knock of 60 from 157 balls finally came to an end when he was caught at long on by Kushil Perera trying to loft left-arm spinner Isuru Gunasekara. He hit seven boundaries and added 35 runs for the fifth wicket with de Silva who later on settled in with the hero of the day, Hettiwatte.
The match will continue today.
Scoreboard
Nalanda 1st innings
Woshantha Silva c T. Samarakoon b S. Ashan 37
Malinga de Silva b V. Ashan 01
Malinga Amarasinghe c K. Perera b I. Gunasekara 60
Lahiru Jayakody c T. Dhananjaya b. S. Ashan 01
Lahiru Wijeratne c. D. Pathirana b. S. Ashan 10
Avishka de Silva not out 77
Pramud Hettiwatte not out 102
Extras (1w, 2nb, 4b, 3lb) 10
Total (declared for 5 wickets; 81.5 overs) 298
Did not bat: Kusal Dias, Sahan Wijesekara, Dilan Samaraweera,
Daham Ranwalage
Fall-of-wickets: 1-9, 2-61, 3-71, 4-96, 5-131
Bowling: Venuka Ashan 12-2-52-1 (1w, 1nb), Tiran Wijesuriya 10.5-1-41-0, Isuru Gunasekara 24-4-86-1, Sammu Ashan 23-3-73-3 (1nb), Thamalaka Athulathmudali 10-2-33-0, Thavin Dhananjaya 2-0-6-0
Ananda 1st innings
Dasun Wijesinghe not out 07
Thamalaka Athulathmudali not out 05
Extras (1w, 1lb) 02
Total (for no loss; 5 overs) 14
Still to bat: Thushara Samarakoon, Danuka Pathirana, Pasindu Isira, Kushil Perera, Thavin Dhananjaya, Sammu Ashan, Venuka Ashan, Isuru Gunasekara, Tiran Wijesooriya
Bowling: Kusal Dias 3-0-9-0 (1w), Daham Ranwalage 2-1-4-0
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