Petes set for early kill
St. Peter’s was set for an early kill against Maris Stella Negombo when play ended on day one in the Under-19 inter-school cricket encounter played at the FTZ ground in Katunayake yesterday.
Moratu MV’s Rasindu Kalpana made 85 against Prince of Wales’ - Pic by Ranjith Perera
St. Peter’s, after being sent into bat first, made a formidable score of 262 and then had Maris Stella struggling for survival. Eventually Maris Stella were bundled out for a meager 64 runs.
The Peterite innings was studded by two half tons coming from Hashan Wanasekera, who made 75 with seven boundaries and Dineth Thimodya, who hit 53 inclusive of six boundaries. The pair also added 53 runs for the second wicket.
It was right-arm spinner Taneesha Weerakoon with impressive figures of 5 for 9 who wrecked the Maris Stella batting along with Vinu Mohotti and Chandula Jayamanne.
Maris Stella is now left with a daunting task of erasing a deficit of 198 runs if they are made to follow on when play resumes today to save themselves from an outright defeat.
Under home conditions Moratu MV dominated proceedings on the opening day against home town rivals Prince of Wales at Moratuwa. Moratu MV, taking first lease of the wicket helped by a knock of 85 from Rasindu Kalpana, made a modest score of 224.
The Cambrians in reply were made to struggle for their runs and were in a bad position. They ended the day on 29 for the loss of four top wickets, needing 95 more runs to avoid a follow on when play restarts today.
Seven matches are set to begin today at different venues. They are — Thurstan vs St. Sebastian’ at Moratuwa, St. Joseph’s vs Royal at Darley Road, Lumbini MV vs Joseph Vaz at BRC, Isipathana vs Bandaranayake MMV at Colts, St. Aloysius vs Trinity at Galle, Zahira vs Mahanama at Maradana, St. Thomas Matara vs St. Thomas Matale at Uyanwatte. .
At FTZ Katunayake:
St. Peter’s 262 (Hashan Wanasekera 75, Dineth Thimodya 53, Dhakshina Rodrigo 39, Taneesha Weerakoon 22, Manelka de Silva 21: Shenal Perera 4 for 51, Sachindu Maduwantha 4 for 79)
Maris Stella 64 (Awantha Silva 38: Taneesha Weerakoon
5 for 9, Vinu Mohotti 2 for 1, Chandula Jayamanne 2 for 28)
At Moratuwa:
Moratu MV 224 (Rasindu Kalpana 85, Nishan Madushka 33: Vihanga Weerakkody 3 for 36, Ramisha Soysa 3 for 51)
Prince of Wales 29 for 4 (Roshan Perera 2 for 3)