Murali Harmony Cup showed that there is abundant talent in North East
The 4th Murali Harmony Cup T20 cricket tournament which ended recently in the northern district showed that it not only builds bridges of friendship that brings together young cricketers from across the island but showed that there is abundant talent in the northern eastern districts of Sri Lanka.
Ananda skipper Nisal Fransisco recieving the trophy from Muttiah Muralidaran
This was evident by the scintillating performances put in by teams by the Jaffna Combined, Mannar/Vavuniya Combined and Kilinochchi/Mullaitivu Combined Schools teams who all recorded shocking wins over fancied teams who have been playing in the top division of the schools cricket tournament conducted by SLCA.
Apart from the teams securing wins the individual performance of the northern and district players too caught the eye. The three teams mentioned pulled off stunning wins with the first being achieved by Jaffna Combine Schools in the first round when they defeated the strong D.S. Senanayake College by three wickets.
This was followed by the Mannar/Vavuniya Combined Schools securing a win against Dharmaraja Kandy and Kilinochchi/Mullaitivu Combined Schools overcoming St. Anthony’s Wattala and then Jaffna Combined Schools again recorded a win against Maliyadeva but they were unfortunate to have not been able to qualify to the semi-finals.
Boys champion Ananda
Another team that impressed in the tournament was St. John’s College Jaffna who were playing for the first time won all their three league matches to end up as the top team in the group which also comprised Debarawewa National School.
Of course the champion team to emerge was expected to be from the top playing schools in the island in the likes of Ananda the defending champion, Richmond Galle, DSS, Maliyadeva and Dharmaraja, but only the first three named teams were able to book a semi final berth and the fourth slot going to St. John’s Jaffna.
Defending champions Ananda was the only other team in the tournament to win all three matches while the other two teams to qualify DSS and Richmond last year’s runner underwent a defeat each.
The two semi-finals were expected to be closely contested games, the first semi-final between Ananda and DSS turned out to be an interesting tussle. DSS taking first lease of the wicket got off to a flying start with their openers skipper Thimila Vaidyasekera and Nimesh Ratnayake blasting 89 runs in the first ten overs.
But their separation saw them undergoing a major collapse as only these two batsmen were able to make valuable contributions Thimila (60) and Nimesh (32) while the rest failed to reach the double figures which ultimately was restricted to a score of 146 with Dileepa Jayalath did the damage with impressive figures of 5 for 12 which incidentally turned out to be the best at the five day tournament.
Gayani Kanchana skipper of Nittambuwa Ladies recieving the trophy from Muttiah Muralidaran
Ananda in their turn underwent an early setback as they were made to struggle for their runs and slid to 46 for 4 in the seventh over. From there on the Ananda pair of Nipun Haggala and Kaveeshka Anjula took things under control as they associated in an unbroken fifth stand of 103 runs to steer them to victory and race to the target in the 17th over.
In the second semi-final between Richmond and St. John’s the same fate befell the Johnians who were given a sound start by openers Kapilraj Sajeenthiran and Jeni Fleming Sebamalaipillai who together added 58 runs in 51 balls but the others failed to make any impression as Avindu Thekshana (5/15) ran through the Johnians batting to restrict them to a score of 120.
Richmond in their run chase was given a sedate start by openers Dhananjaya Lakshan and Liyam Chamikara who put on 45 runs in 27 balls which was followed by 41 runs stand for the second wicket between Liyam and Kamindu Mendis.
Even though they lost another wicket at the same score an unbroken 37 runs for the fourth wicket between Pasindu Bimsara and Kalindu Siriwardena saw them advance to the final.
The final clash between Ananda and Richmond, a repeat of last year played at Oddusadan Maha Vidyala ground saw Richmond in pursuit of 138 runs after being in a strong position of 84 for 3 in the 13th over threw away their chance of winning the title as they lost their remaining seven wickets for just 29 runs being bowled out for 113 which aw Ananda retain the Murali Harmony Cup.
Sekeran Banusan of Mannar/Vavuniya Combined Schools team had the honour of making the highest score of the tournament when he slammed an unbeaten 89 in just 46 balls inclusive of five boundaries and eight sixes against Dharmaraja.
Girls champion Nittambuwa Ladies
The Combined Girls School team was the cynosure of all eyes in the women’s tournament which was played concurrently at Mankulam, they had a successful run in the tournament by winning all their three first matches which saw them qualify to the final.
In the other group Nittambuwa Ladies were too good for their opponents and they too ended on top in their group by winning all their three matches to advance to the final.With the Combined Girls School having made the highest score of 168 runs against Polonnaruwa Ladies in the tournament they were expected to lift the title. But that was not to be after skipper Harshitha Madavi skipper of the Combined Girls Schools team won the toss and elected to take first lease of the wicket was sitting pretty in the 12th over with the score on 73 for 3 but lost wickets at regular intervals which saw them fall back and make a score of 109.
Nittambuwa Ladies was making steady progress and in the halfway stage of the inning were 54 for 3. They were made to dig deep for their runs but managed to come out victorious by five wickets with five balls to spare.