Thomians avenge last year's defeat; Royal thrashed by innings

by Ranjan Anandappa

CRICKET: S.Thomas' with a superior all round effort avenged their last year defeat by completely outplaying Royal in all departments of the game to win the 128th Battle of the Blues encounter by an innings and 44 runs at the SSC grounds yesterday.

The Thomians accomplished their memorable win just after 95 minutes of play in the pre-lunch session when the panic striken Roylist Kanishka Boteju ran himself out as the Thomian fielders were on their feet, and skipper Ashan Peiris marshalling his side from the front.

It was the fielding of either side that made the major difference. The Thomians were absolutely on the spot in whatever they did in the field as the Royalsits faultered, particularly while the Thomian batsmen, Pieris and Mazahir were cruising towards their big record breaking partnership.

Royal who gave a disappointing batting display in the first innings being all out for 167, fared no better while following on with a defecit of 207 runs.

The situation required a long and weighty innings by a couple of their top order batsmen to save the game, but only Diren Warnakulasuriya (54), Bahnuka Rajapakse (24) and Charith Fernando (31 n.o) batted with any authority as the rest succumbed to the immense pressure applied by the Thomians.

The Royalists were a well beaten side for a few good reasons. Firstly it was the weakness in their batting and the thinness in their bowling, backed up by appalling fielding at times. To add to their woes they won the toss and elected to field.

Besides Diren Warnakulasuriya, Banuka Rajapakse and Charith Fernando who look promising the others looked pretty rattled.

Skipper Haroon Mowjood who looked a good leg spinner which earned him a place in the junior national pool, but as the skipper he seemed to have lost confidence, and with that Royal lost their way very early in the game.

The Thomians no doubt had played to a plan which was well executed. They were aware of the weakness of Royal's batting and once they were invited to bat it was a blessing in disguise for the them.

Nizam Mazahir (162) and Ashan Pieirs (161) who scored his second big match hundred provided the base for the Thomian batting. Their bowling attack was not that menacing and the enthusiastic fielding gave the bowlers a tremendous boost which constantly had the Royalists under pressure.

Royal began their second innings in the third day morning at 124 for 6 still needing 83 runs to make the Thomians bat again. There was much speculation as to whether Royal could extend their stay at least upto the lunch interval.

Charith Fernando the overnight unbeaten had made his intentions clear batting sensibly, but lack of suport saw Royal losing wickets at regular intervals.

In the 24 overs bowled in the pre-lunch session they managed only 39 runs for the loss of four wickets.

Leg spinner Milan Fernando took the wickets of Thanthirigoda and Laksitha de Silva while the Thomians fielding prowess was clearly displayed when they ran out Yasith Abeykoon and Kanishka Boteju in a sensational 90 minutes of play in the morning. All awards were won by the Thomians.

Thilan Nugawela (Best Fielder), Milan Fernando (Best Bowler). Nizam Mazahir (Best Batsman) and Ashan Pieris (Man of the match).

S.THOMAS' - 1ST INNINGS 
374 for 7 declared. (Ashan Pieris 161, Nizam Mazahir 162, Maneesha Thanthirigoda 2 for 47) 
ROYAL - 1ST INNINGS 
167 (Banuka Rajapakse 28, Kusal Perera 22, Milan Fernando 5 for 23) 
ROYAL - 2ND INNINGS (124 for 6 overnight) 

K. de Silva c.Weeraratne b Walpita 		14 
D. Warnakulasuriya c Weerawardene b Thahir 	54 
Haroon Mowjood lbw b Mazahir 			4 
Kusal Perera c Thahir b Mazahir 			4 
Feroz Ahamed run out 			7 
Banuka Rajapakse c Niroshan b Mazahir 		24 
Charith Fernando not out 			31 
Maneesha Thanthirigoda c Nugawela b Milan Fernando 	4 
Yasith Abeykoon run out 			2 
Lakshitha de Silva St Weerawardena 
b Milan Fernando 				3 
Kanishka Boteju run out 			0 

EXTRAS. B-8, NB-1, LB-3, W-4 16 

TOTAL (In 74 overs) 163 
FALL OF WICKETS: 36, 48, 54, 76, 112, 122, 135, 144, 149, 150. 
BOWLING: Ruchira de Silva 10-2-18-0, Dinesh Walpita 6-0-13-1, Milan Fernando 21-5-39-2, 
	Nizam Mazahir 15-3-32-3, Shasrika Pussegolla 12-0-27-0, Jehan Thahir 10-1-23-1.