Richmond and Ananda to meet in the final
Ananda's Kamesh Nirmal elegantly drives - Pic by Ranjith Perera
Richmond and Ananda qualified to meet in the final of the Singer Under-19 Division One 2-day League Tournament by recording first innings wins over Thurstan and St. Peter’s in the semi-final encounters which concluded at the Surrey Village ground in Maggona and Moors SC ground in Colombo yesterday.
The match between Thurstan and Richmond was a high scoring and closely contested affair with Thurstan taking first lease of the wicket on day one scoring 289. Nipun Lakshan (77) and Sawan Prabash (73 n.o) were the top scorers for Thurstan.
The second day’s play saw Richmond taking the crease were guided by Adithya Siriwardena who went on to reach his ton before being dismissed for 112 which had 12 boundaries and a six. The Thurstan bowlers were made to toil and Richmond in the process went on to overtake their opponents score as they declared their innings on 292 for 9 which was sufficient for them to book the berth to the final.
Kamesh Nirmal and Asel Sigera came to the rescue of Ananda against St Peter’s on day two at Braybrooke Place. Kamesh cracked 52 which included eight boundaries while Asel hit 42 as the duo put on a valuable 85 runs partnership for the sixth wicket. At one point Ananda was in a bad position — 65 for 5. The second day’s play saw Ananda resuming from their overnight score of 74 for 5 going on to make a score of 223 for 8. This was in reply to St Peter’s score of 211 made on day one,
Richmond who last week clinched the U19 limited over title will be seeking to go for the double and the date for the final has not been decided yet.
Meanwhile in the semi-final encounter of the Under 19 Division Two cricket tournament between Rahula MV Matara and St John’s Panadura which got underway at the Sooriyawewa Stadium saw the Johnians ending day one in a strong position.
| Results: At Maggona: First innings win for Richmond Thurstan 289 (Nipun Lakshan 77, Yeshan Wickramaarachchi 47, Prageesha Mendis 22, Sawan Prabash 73 n.o.: Avindu Theekshana 5 for 78, Sandun Mendis 4 for 72) Richmond 292 for 9 declared (Adithya Siriwardena 112, Thaveesha Abhishek 42, Dhananjaya Lakshan 32, Sandun Mendis 29, Kasun Tharaka 25: Thushal Adithya 4 for 111, Naveen Gunawardena 3 for 63) At Braybrooke Place: First innings win for Ananda St. Peter’s 211 (Shivan Perera 68, Ranmith Jayasena 42, Santhush Gunatilleke 20, Chathura Obeysekera 22 n.o.: Dileepa Jayalath 2 for 33, Chamika Gunasekera 2 for 35, Asel Sigera 2 for 36, Sammu Ashan 2 for 41) Ananda (74/5 overnight) 223 for 9 declared (Kamesh Nirmal 52, Asel Sigera 43, Supun Waragoda 33, Lahiru Hiranja 26, Sahan Suraweera 24, Kalana Wijesiri 20: Santhush Gunatilleke 4 for 47, Manelker de Silva 3 for 67) At Sooriyawewa: Rahula Matara 150 (Hewa Maddumage 39, Bhagya Himath 34: Thanuja Akalanka 5 for 37) St. John’s Panadura 79 for 1 (Thanuja Akalanka 36 n.o., Sithum Pramodya 32 n.o) |