Antonians force a draw

By S.M. Jiffrey ABDEEN - Kandy Sports Corr.

CRICKET: Strong rear guard action by Antonian tail-enders helped St. Anthony's College to force a draw in their Murali-Vass Challenge Trophy cricket match against St. Joseph's College, Maradana concluded at Katugastota yesterday.

The Antonians who were trailing behind by 116 runs were tottering at 75 for 6 in their second innings at one stage and an outright defeat stared as these was nearly 20 overs of play remaining. But Mahinda Perera with the tail enders put their heads down and played the remaining overs to frustrate the Josephians in their victory bid. Mahinda Perera played the role of sheet anchor in Making 73 not out with 14 fours to steer his side to safety. But the match really belonged to Josephian skipper Sameera Weerasinghe who took 7 for 51 and 4 for 58 to end up with a match haul of 11 for 115. He also batted well to score 118 not out with 16 fours of 197 deliveries to pull the Josephians out of the woods after they were 107 for 6 at the end of the first day. He put on 132 for the seventh wicket with P. Kumara who made 54 with 9 fours. Sameera Weerasinghe has now taken 81 wickets and scored 900 runs season and looks set for the grand double.

His excellent performance brought him three awards. Man-of-the-Match, Best Bowler and Best Batsman. The Best Fielders award went to Mahinda Perera of St. Anthony's College.

St. Joseph's College retained the Murali-Vass Trophy for yet another year having won this encounter outright last year.

St. Anthony's College: 166 and 151 for 8 in 51 overs (Hiran Weerasekera 19, Dulash Kumarasinghe 14, Malindu Perera 73 not out, Sahan Palihakkara 12, K.B. Ranaraja 12, Sameera Weerasinghe 4 for 58, P. Kumara 3 for 9).

St. Joseph's College: 107 for 6 overnight 282 all out in 86.2 overs (R. Withanaachchi 28, Sameera Weerasinghe 118 not out, P. Kumara 54, D. Dambarage 26, Sahan Palihakkara 5 for 72, Kasun Ekanayake 3 for 89).