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| Sunday, 22 February 2004 |
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Royal - Thomian fiftieth match - 1928 Thomians hold on and force draw THOUGH the 1928 Royal - Thomian cricket encounter was the 50th encounter in the series, it is generally regarded as the 49th, as the first match in 1879 had masters of the two schools playing and therefore is not taken into account by the statisticians. The match was played on March 23 and 24 and the venue was the SSC grounds. The match ended in an exciting draw, with the Thomians struggling to save the match with eight wickets down for 76, chasing 188 runs for victory. Royal who batted first, made 152 and they fared better in their second innings and scored 203 for 7 wickets declared. S. Thomas' who made 168 in their first innings, were close to defeat with their second innings at 76 for 8 wickets at close of play on the second day. For the Thomians, this match had some unhappy moments off the field as well. H. F. Goonewardena who played for S. Thomas' in 1918/19 died in a motor accident when he fell off the car in which he was travelling when he tried to grab the cap of a passer by, missed his balance and fell on the road on the second day. This match also witnessed many players suffering cramps, with Thomian skipper R. Hermon, A. J. D. N. Selvadurai and Royalist H. S. Roberts being victims. When Royal batted in the second innings. H. S. Roberts (63 retired) and J. R. Wilson (43) added 87 runs in their opening stand and this was followed by another good partnership between S. S. Jayawickrama (32) and S. G. Pieris (33) that yielded 54 runs for the second wicket. When S. Thomas' batted, H. E. Poulier took 6 for 51 in the Thomian first innings score of 168 and in the Thomian second innings total of 76 for 8 wickets, S. S. Jayawickrema had 5 for 24. S. Thomas' had to make 188 runs for victory in the second innings in two hours play, and they went on the defensive from the start and at the close, they were 76 for 8 wickets. Though this match ended in a draw and beside the tragic happenings, there was also the lighter-side of the match as far as the Thomians were concerned. It has been mentioned that before the Thomians went for the match on the second day, Sri Lanka's former Prime Minister late Dudley Senanayake, who was a member of the Thomian team suggested that the team should go for a drive in a tourist car that some team members spotted. Dudley Senanayake took the wheel and the team was on their way around Dehiwela. There was a mishap and the canvass covering came off the top and one of the iron ribs fell on a player D. W. Gunawardena and he was in pain and he could not 'keep' wickets and Dudley Senanayake took over as wicketkeeper. After medical assistance was rendered, Gunawardena and company went for the match. No sooner had the players gone to the ground, the Royal captain N. Kandiah was gracious enough to allow a runner for Gunawardena, but this was politely refused. Dudley Senanayake, it is reported just could not fit into the job and missed a few catches and let go some byes too. The Royalists were offered fifteen extra minutes if they wanted to win the match, but the Thomian grit seemed to surface and the match was drawn. The secret about the car trip before the second day's play was kept by all until Dudley Senanayake himself came out with it several years later when there was a dinner accorded to him when he was elected to the position of Prime Minister for the first time. ROYAL - 1ST INNINGS J. R. Wilson c Wickremasinghe b Abeywardena 21, H. S. Roberts b Abeywardena 11, S. C. de Saram lbw b Hermon 14, S. C. Pieris c and b de Silva 17, S. S. Jayawickrema b Fernando 2, H. E. Poulier b Fernando 33, N. Kandiah c Fernando b Selvadurai 19, E. H. Labrooy b Selvadurai 15, S. G. de Zoysa c and b Selvadurai 4, S. W. Dassanayake b Selvadurai 0, H. Wille c Hermon b Abeywardena 6, EXTRAS: 10. TOTAL: 152. FALL OF WICKETS: 1-33, 2-46, 3-54, 4-67, 5-82, 6-127, 7-133, 8-145, 9-145. BOWLING: Selvadurai 20-10-31-3, Abeywardena 17.4-3-44-3, Senanayake 12-7-20-0, Hermon 8-5-5-1, Fernando 10-2-28-2, R. S. de Silva 2-0-5-1, Abeygoonawardena 1-0-9-0. S. THOMAS' - 1ST INNINGS D. W. Goonewardena c and b Jayawickrema 19, H. G. Wickremasinghe b Poulier 11, R. Samarasekera b Wille 2, S. P. G. Abeywardena c De Saram b Kandiah 7, R. Hermon b Kandiah 60, D. Senanayake b Kandiah 25, A. J. D. N. Selvadurai not out 21, R. Senanayake b Kandiah 2, R. S. de Silva c De Saram b Kandiah 0, D. Abeygoonewardena run out 4, T. Fernando c Dassanaike b Kandiah 13, EXTRAS: 4. TOTAL: 168. FALL OF WICKETS: 1-14, 2-24, 3-32, 4-46, 5-120, 6-131, 7-135, 8-143, 9-158. BOWLING: H. E. Poulier 19-6-49-1, N. Kandiah 21-11-51-6, H. Wille 15-4-29-1, S. S. Jayawickrema 8-0-22-1, E. G. Labrooy 3-0-13-0. ROYAL - 2ND INNINGS J. Wilson c Abeygoonawardena b Abeywardena 43, H. S. Roberts retired hurt 63, F. C. de Saram c and b Hermon 2, S. G. Pieris b Selvadurai 33, S. S. jayawickrema c R. Senanayake b R. Hermon 32, N. Kandiah c Abeygoonawardena b Abeywardena 0, E. G. Laborooy not out 5, S. G. de Zoysa c Wickremasinghe b Hermon 1, S. W. Dassanaike c and b Selvadurai 5, EXTRAS: 19. TOTAL: (for 7 wkts dec.) 203. FALL OF WICKETS: 1-87, 2-141, 3-146, 4-152, 5-175, 6-188, 7-203. BOWLING: Selvadurai 17-3-51-2, Abeywardena 15-4-37-2, Senanayake 8-1-23-0, Hermon 9-3-12-3, Fernando 8-1-22-0, R. S. de Silva 4-0-30-0, R. Samarasekera 1-0-9-0. S. THOMAS' - 2ND INNINGS H. G. Wickremasinghe c Dassanaike b Kandiah 0, R. Samarasekera b Jayawickrema 21, C. P. G. Abeywardena run out 10, R. Hermon b Jayawickrema 21, D. Senanayake b Jayawickrema 6, A. J. D. N. Selvadurai c De Saram b Poulier 8, R. Senanayake c Wilson b Jayawickrema 0, R. S. de Silva b Jayawickrema 6, D. Abeygoonawardena not out 4, T. Fernando not out 0, EXTRAS: 2. TOTAL: (for 8 wkts) 76. FALL OF WICKETS: 1-7, 2-21, 3-52, 4-53, 5-62, 6-62, 7-72, 8-76. BOWLING: H. E. Poulier 10-3-15-1, N. Kandiah 17-6-25-1, H. Wille 7-2-10-0, S. S. Jayawickrema 11-3-24-5. Dudley mischief Former Prime Minister, the late Dudley Senanayake was full of mischief as a schoolboy and one day went on a quick trip before the second day's play, driving a car but a mishap occurred and the fun had to stop. He kept wickets, as replacement for injured D. W. Gunawardena, but missed some catches and let go some byes too. |
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