Chamika’s effort in vain as S. Thomas’ gain 5-wicket win
Royal’s Chamika Karunaratne came up with the ultimate captain’s contribution with the bat and ball only to see it wither into insignificance as S. Thomas’ College mounted a major counteroffensive, beating their perennial rivals by five wickets at the 39th Mustangs Trophy encounter, played at the SSC yesterday.Chasing a target of 236, S. Thomas thrust past the finish line in the
The Thomians are elated - Pix by Amila Gamage
penultimate over with Chenutha Wickremasinghe emphatically punching the ball to the boundary. He finished on 17 off 11 balls, partnering Sachitha Jayathilaka, who struck 44 off 66 balls.
Chamika Karunaratne, after weighing in with the bat through a swashbuckling half century, was the pick of the bowlers, taking three crucial wickets.
Earlier in the day, after winning the toss and electing to bat, Royal struggled to clear first gear with Geeshath Panditharatne and Hasitha Samarasinghe struggling to find gaps amongst fielders who moved towards the ball with feline reflexes.
Their stuttered progress shattered when Samarasinghe guided the ball into the gloves of Sanesh de Mel off the bowling of Helakamal Nanayakkara, bringing an end to his 46-ball innings of 25.
This brought skipper Chamika Karunaratne to the crease and just like in the previous year’s three-day encounter he leapt to the vanguard of the Royalists offensive.
Launching himself ruthlessly at deliveries down both sides of the wicket, Karunaratne continued thumping the ball to the boundary boards even after Panditharatne was trapped in front by Sachitha Jayathilaka for 36.
Karunaratne struck two consecutive boundaries off his opposite number Madushan Ravichandrakumar to reach his half century. His
Rescue acts were staged by Royalist Chamika
gamble of moving up the order was paying off handsomely as he continued carving the offside for a torrent of runs. And he was not being reckless either, choosing to punish both loose and probing deliveries with aggressive and technically-sound execution.
He only suffered one mild stumble when on 78 he bashed the ball back at Nanayakkara, who was into his follow-through and could only parry it over his head. The score was 173 for 2 when, against the run of play, Hashen Ramanayake, who had played a lumbering knock of 23 off 41 balls, was run out off a throw from Jayathilaka.
Four overs later Karunaratne was trapped lbw, bringing an end to his entertaining 102-ball innings of 84, which featured 10 imperious strikes to the boundary.
His dismissal also unhinged Royal from a strong position for a late assault and sent them tumbling like a stack of dominoes. Sensing an opening, the Thomian fielders tightened their stranglehold,
Thomian Tharindu , but ultimately it was the Mt. Lavinia lad’s innings which proved more pivotal
running out Thiran Dhanapala for 3 and trimming possible singles into no-calls.
Before long Randev Pathirana was marching back to the pavilion after scoring 18 and the Royal innings was crawling at 205 for 6. After Naveen Withanapathirana was run out in the 49th over, Sahan Wijesinghe stepped up to bowl the final over.
He proceeded to construct his team’s most pulsating sequence of play, bundling out Harith Samarasinghe, Devind Pathmanathan and Anupa Tillakaratne to polish off the Royalists for 235 with a thrilling hat-trick.
In reply, S. Thomas’ began as edgily as Royal but, unlike their traditional rivals, were unable to manufacture boundaries as the innings wore on and found themselves labouring at 98 for 4, following the departure of skipper Ravichandrakumar for 27. A few balls later Sanesh de Mel, who was beginning to look comfortable at the crease, accidentally walked in the way of a throw from the outfield and was forced to retire hurt after putting up a fighting 31.His departure brought S. Thomas’ batting savior on the day, Tharindu Rathnayake, to the middle and with him a deep bag of batting fireworks followed. Rathnayake pummeled the Royal bowling, heaving them over the ropes six times and swatting them for 3 fours in a 56-ball 70, before Karunaratne rearranged his stumps.
But with a few runs left to get, the damage had already been done and Jayathilaka and Wickremsinghe held firm to ensure that S. Thomas’ strode off the pitch to wild cheers and a hard-fought victory.