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A 15-year-old who spun the match around
It was like another episode of the tales from the unexpected. At the end of the first day of the 120th clash between Royal and S. Thomas' which took place at the Sinhalese Sports Club grounds, the match was coasting towards the expected draw.

Suddenly the weather turned turbulent at the end of the second day, and
what took place there onwards - is history. When young left arm leg spinner Suranga Peiris walked on to the field following his skipper Naren Ratwatte to begin the match on the first day, he would have never thought that he would walk back to the pavilion on the final day as the hero of the match. On the third day of the match, this fifteen year-old debutant turned the entire course of a match that was coasting towards another meaningless draw into a memorable win for the Thomians.Another noteworthy factor in this match was that three lads bearing the surname Peiris dominated it.

First it was R. Peiris who initiated Royal's huge first innings total with a well-timed knock of 90 runs. Then, it was Meshad Peiris who held the Thomian first innings together, and saw some respectability to their total with a fighting century. Thirdly, it was young Suranga who shocked the Royal batting line up with a memorable spell of left arm leg spin bowling.

Initially, it was the Royalists who held sway. Batting first, they soon ran up a huge 288 for 3 declared with opener R. Peiris falling prey to his name-sake Suranga Peiris,leg-before, ten short of a well-deserved century. Towards this total, skipper T. Amerasuriya too contributed an attractive knock of 72. Royal confidently declared at an impressive 288 for just 3 wickets.When the Thomians went out to bat, the Royal opening bowler Harshana Rajakaruna had them in all kinds of trouble, and at one stage the entire Thomian top order was back in the dressing room with only 56 runs on the board.

However they clawed their way back into the reckoning through a 99 run stand between G.A. Fernando (33) and Meshad Peiris who went to become their batting hero by going on to make 103. From 56 for 5, they recovered to 235 for 7.

Spurred by this performance, the Thomians went on to declare 30 runs behind the Royal total at 258 for 9.For Royal, Rajakaruna finished with 4 for 49 while S.Udumalagala and R. Rajapaksha shared two wickets each.Going into bat for the second time, Royal ended the second day at 41 for 1.At this juncture, in spite of losing the first innings top scorer R. Peiris for a'duck', trapped in front again, but this time by the Thiomian skipper Ratwatte, the lads from Reid Avenue did not have the slightest idea of what was in store.

When third day started Royal had no reason for any undue anxiety. Opener Thotuwilage and skipper Amerasuriya were batting well overnight adding 37 runs for 2nd wicket. But, on the third morning unexpectedly tragedy struck. Royal had added just four runs to the overnight score when opening bowler L. Fernando struck twice and was responsible for both overnight batsmen's wickets. Thotuwilage went back for 20 and skipper Amerasuriya for 22.

Adding to their woes, Jayasuriya who made an impressive 43 not out in the first innings was run out before he bothered the scorers. Suddenly, Royal plunged from 45 for 1 to 45 for 4. At one end, wicket keeper Andrew Perera was far from amused. Helplessly, he held on, but the panic bells were ringing in the Royal camp as young Suranga Peiris took charge of the fate of the match from this point onwards.

Finally, there was nothing much that Andrew Perera also could do and when he was stumped by his counterpart Kanaka, for 20 the writing was on the wall. Royal were all out in there second innings for a paltry 80 runs - a team that had rattled up 288 for 3 declared in the first essay. And this 80 became Royal's lowest score since 1961.

For S. Thomas' opening bowler Fernando finished with two wickets for 11 runs. But, the real hero was young Peiris who was responsible for all five bottom half wickets, which he took in 13.4 overs at a cost of only 18 runs. (13.4-8-18-5).

For the Thomians who did not boast of the best side in schools that year, this came as a real bonanza. They had 111 runs to make to carry home the trophy, which they did for the loss of six wickets, with opener H.S.Peiris leading the way with an unbeaten knock of 44 runs.All in all, it was an unlikely finish to the game, which primarily began with Royal looking the possible victors. However, Thomians had done it for the 2nd time in three years, and what a way it was to finish one millenniumand step into the next.

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