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Sports

Fickle weather robs exciting finish to Royal-Ananda
By Bernie Wijesekera
The Royal-Ananda Inter-School cricket match, played for the first time for the late L.D.S. Peiris Trophy, was marred by fickle weather when it was continued at Reid Avenue yesterday.

Royal who were invited to bat first on Friday were greatly helped by last year's skipper and all rounder Ganganath Ratnayake with a solid 47 with eight fours in 96 balls, followed by a gritty 64 run fourth wicket stand between skipper Rochana Wijeratne (36) and Janith Jayawardena (38) helped them to total 184.

Ananda's off-spinner R. Wimaladharma proved most economical with five for 42 and had Royal in a spin. Ananda in reply were 68 for 4 at the close. But overnight rain delayed the start. The conditions improved and play could have been resumed much earlier than 1 p.m. after lunch. Apparently the umpires were groping in the dark to the surprise of avid fans.

Mr. Ranjith Senanayake (Royal) and Mr. Kulasiri de Zoysa (Ananda) were prepared to play, but it was in the hands of the umpires. Resuming the innings Ananda middle batting fell apart to the wiles of Morawake (left arm) and Edussuriya (off spin) and they were struggling at 134 for 8 at tea. A thin drizzle balked Royal's aspiration of a first innings win. Finally play started at 4.05 p.m. with the start of the mandatory overs.

The pair batted with grim determination and with cheeky singles put pressure on the Royal bowlers. At 147 for 8, Ranasinghe was dropped in the slips by Wijeratne off Morawake. With the scores at 158 for 8, the productive ninth wicket unbroken stand at 30, the Royal skipper brought in pace bowler Kottehewa to the crease to hurl a spongy ball, which hardly showed any terrors for the batsmen.

Ranasinghe on 12 played the first ball with confidence. Surprisingly the umpires suspended play due to bad light and robbed both teams of an exciting finish, without the over not being completed.

Play was suspended with the start of the 12th mandatory over. Ananda were left with 26 runs for a first innings lead in 8.5 overs while Royal had to get two scalps. Finally the game was called off.

Dr. Mahinda Jayasinghe (Ananda) and Dr. Ranjith de Silva (Royal) were the chief guests. Mr. Karu Jayasuriya, Minister for Power and Energy, an Old Anandian, was a special invitee and gave away the trophy which was shared by both schools for the first time on offer.

Heads of Royal and Ananda Lakshman Gomes and B.A. Abeyratne addressed the gathering. Late L.D.S. Peiris, the former Royal Principal is an Old Anandian. The trophy was presented by his son Jagath, an Old Royalist, in memory of his late father.
Royal - 1st innings 184 in 68 overs (Janith Jayawardena 38, Rochana Wijeratne 36, T. Edirimanne 30; R. Wimaladharma 5 for 42, C. Jayaweera 3 for 49)

Ananda - 1st innings 68 for 4 overnight contd. 158 for 8 at stumps in 71.1 overs (M. Udawatte 24, P. Boteju 18, J. Sriyapala 20, R. Wimaladharma 12, Sachitra Senanayake 30 n.o, Achela Ranatunga 12 n.o; D. Edussuriya 23-5-33-3, Heshan Morawake 22-5-36-2)

Wesley first innings Two half centuries by skipper Farveez Mahroof and Nuwan Samith enabled Wesley to score 257 in reply to the Thomians score of 248 and gain a first innings win in the Elephant Lemonade Cup inter-school cricket match concluded at Mt Lavinia yesterday.

S. Thomas' - 248 (K. Silva 50, I. Warnakulasuriya 41, S. Mendis 50; C. Karunaratne 5 for 48) Wesley - 257 (N. Samith 85, F. Mahroof 60, I. Seneviratne 32; S. Kumar 3 for 78, R. Panduwawala 3 for 40)-MSA

Krishan 80
Sri Rahula's Krishan Silva, a 14-year-old left handed opener, stole the limelight in the drawn Lemonade Trophy match between Sri Rahula and St. Mary's at Kegalle.
Playing only in his second game, Silva made a sparkling 80 (4x12) and followed it up with an unbeaten 50.

For St. Mary's, burly Janaka Seneviratne batted a long time and with great determintion to top score with 92. Sri Rahula - 229 in 67.2 overs) Krishan Silva 80, Nimantha Priyadarshana 47, C. Senadheera 25, T. Sampath 15, M. Boteju 16, A. Udayakumara 16; L. Wijetunga 4 for 60, A. Ranasinghe 3 for 39, S.P. Karunatilleke 2 for 34) and 138 for 3 in 22 overs (Asela Gunaratne 49, Krishan Silva 50 n.o, R. Vedage 20, N. Priyadarshana 17)

St. Mary's - 241 in 100.2 overs (Janaka Seneviratne 92, S. Karunatilleke 29, A. Ranasinghe 26, E. Paranavitharane 20; N. Atapattu 3 for29, A. Udayakumara 2 for 64, B. Bothatage 2 for 78, S. Fernando 2 for27) - A.K.

Sebs. on first innings
St. Sebastian's College Moratuwa after being in a strong position had to be satisfied with a first innngs win over Thurstan in the Elephant Lemonade Cup cricket match concluded at Moratuwa yesterday.

Thurstan - 159 and 191 for 4 at close (S. Gamage 63, D. Indika 30) St. Sebastian's - 235 for 9 declared (N. Silva 48, T. Peiris 44. L. Anthony 34, N. Perera 16, D. Abeydeera 16; A. Umayangana 3 for 38, S. Gamage 2 for 52)-MSA

No Decision
The Inter-School cricket match between Nalanda and St. Anthony's Katugastota ended in a No Decision at Campbell Park yesterday. St. Anthony's continued from their overnight 185 for 5 to 214 for 8 at close as play started onlyat 1 p.m. due to overnight rain.

A fine unbroken ninth wicketstand of 51 between Ekanayake (31 n.o) andBandaranayake (130 n.o) saw the Antonians force a No Decision when bad light called a premature end to the game.
Nalanda - 249 (T. Attanayake 68, S. Gangodawila 63, G. Rupasinghe 60; Mohamed Rizlan 2 for20, A. Ariyaratne 3 for 74)
St. Anthony's - 214 for 8 at close (M. Ruzly 45, T. De Silva 30,P. Ekanayake 31 n.o, D.nghe 2 for 43)

Saracens SC make 294
Saracens SC taking first lease of the wicket made an imposing 294 with Malinga Perera making 115 consisting of 15 boundaries in the Sara Plate championships cricket match against Matugama CC which began at Matugama yesterday.
Saracens SC - 294 (M. Perera 115, D. Perera 35, M. Ikram 26, M. Soysa 15, S. Nikathena 30, D. Weerasinghe 22, P. Nishantha 20 n.o; R. Seneviratne 5 for 62, S. Jayantha 2 for 37)

Matugama CC - 1 for no loss.-MSA
Moratuwa SC - 189, Lankan CC 145/2
Lankan CC were 145 for 2 in reply to Moratuwa SC's score of 189 on the first days play of the Division Two cricket match at Katubedda
Moratuwa SC - 189 (S. Perera 33, J. Perera 31, A. Peiris 43; A. Fonseka 5 for 55, A. de Silva 2 for 29)

Lankan CC - 145 for 2 (N. Perera 38, G. Warnakula 73 n.o., S. Saheed 19 n.o.)-MSA
Nugegoda SWC a massive 362

In another match of the same tournament being at the Galle Stadium between Nugegoda SWC and United Southern SC the former batting first made a massive 362.
Nugegoda SWC - 362 (R. Prasantha 98, S. Udawatte 49, G. Jayasinghe 45, R. Prasanna 56, S. Farook 44, T. Johar 23; P. Gamage 3 for 60, N. Nanayakkara 2 for 81)

United Southern SC - 15 for no loss.-MSA

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