Shoddy fielding put
paid to Royal’s chances in Big Match:
Saleem - the Thomian saviour
Jatila KARAWITA
Cometh the hour, cometh the man, goes the age-old saying, and this
was proved right again when opener Faheem Saleem cracked a monumental
165 for S. Thomas’ College, to deprive Royal College from posting a win
and force a commendable draw in their 130th Battle of the Blues
three-day cricket encounter ended at SSC grounds, Maitland Place last
evening.
Saleem, a compact right-hander with terrific concentration powers who
resumed on an overnight 100, made 165 standing between a loss for his
school and a certain victory for Royal as the latter was left to rue
what might have been had they held onto their catches.
The dogged opener who was let off when 38 by Royal captain Yasitha
Abeykoon off hard-working left-arm spinner Maneesha Thanthirigoda saw to
it that Royal would stand to regret it as he steered his team to a
record-breaking second innings total of 411 all out.
The previous best for the Thomians in the series was a total of 388
for 9 declared in 1996 under Wiranga Samaranayake as the lads from Mount
Lavinia proved that their paltry first-innings total of 99 was just a
mere fluke as they profited immensely from the profligacy of the
Royalists to deny them of a certain outright win in this game.
The Thomians who resumed from their overnight 225 for 2, lost their
skipper R. Nirrushan who could only add a single to his overnight 103
before nicking one to slip fielder S. Hettiarachchi off his opposite
number Y. Abeykoon.
Nirrushan perished not before having raised 209 for the third wicket
with his opener Faheem Saleem and the pair who got together when their
side was really looking down the barrel at 21 for 2 and having to make
214 runs for Royal to bat again, simply turned this game on its head.
Their epic double century stand knocked the stuffing out of Royal and
Saleem even after losing his skipper defied the Royal bowlers in a
spectacular display of concentration stubborn resistance and resolute
defence which further added credence to the famed grit his alma-mater is
the reputed four.
Saleem who ultimately fell for 165 off the bowling of part time
spinner Kithruwan Vithanage being adjudged leg before wicket occupied
the crease for 544 minutes and faced 426 deliveries while stroking
fifteen boundaries.
If Faheem Saleem was the saviour for S. Thomas’ then the impact made
by their 15-year-old wicket-keeper batsman Sachin Peiris (58) cannot be
overlooked, as his effort was worth its weight in gold in the final
analysis.
Sachin Peiris who came when the Thomians were placed at 6 for 285 put
on 57 runs for the 7th wicket to keep Royal at bay with the help of
senior partner Saleem.
The Thomian opener had also earlier added 53 runs for the fourth
wicket with Chamod Pathirana who made sedate 22, and these vital
partnerships put paid to Royal’s chances of restricting the opposition
to a modest second innings total.
As stated earlier sloppy fielding overall where they gave lives’ to
the two Thomian centurions (F. Saleem and R. Nirrushan) coupled with the
lack of variety shown by the bowlers eventually dogged them from
completing a victory which they at one stage were destined to achieve
having piled up a massive first innings of 313 for 9 declared before
bundling out their arch-rivals for a mere 99.
In the end set a challenging target of 198 to runs to clinch the
contest off a maximum 21 overs, the lads from Reid Avenue started their
second essay as if though they were on a mission of vengeance.
But an asking rate of 9.42 runs was always going to be tough for a
schoolboy team let alone an international side, and Royal’s haste paid
no dividends as they took the light of offered by the umpires with the
total at 42 for 3 in 7 overs.
The game overall was keenly fought out for three days, but certain
tactics of Royal when questioning the decisions of the two umpires (Deepal
Gunawardena and Sarath Kumara) throughout the S. Thomas’ second innings
was highly uncalled for.
Accepted that the umpires word is law and that is how this game is
played and even some Royal stewards hurling insults and abuse at the two
umpires when play was finally called off for bad light was unwarranted.
Royal who was fancied to win this match were more or less taught a
lesson by the Thomians in that they should never count their chicken
before they are hatched, as the glorious uncertainties of the game
coupled with true S. Thomas’ College grit ensured the 130th ‘Battle of
the Blues’ was consigned to a yet another tame draw.
As a result, of the Thomians having retained the D. S. Senanayake
Shield, for a third successive year, their management have granted an
official holiday for the students of the Mount Lavinia school, a member
of the Royal-Thomian joint organising committee Mangala Gunasekera told
‘Sunday Observer’.
S. THOMAS’ COLLEGE - FIRST INNINGS
(99 all out - R. Nirrushan 24, M. Thanthirigoda 4 for 11, Y. Abeykoon 3 for 36).
S. THOMAS’ - SECOND INNINGS
(Contd. 225-2 wkts)
F. Saleem lbw b Vithanage 165
A. Fernando c Hettiarachchi b De Silva 4
Ashen Fernando c Perera b Abeykoon 11
R. Nirrushan c Hettiarachchi b Abeykoon 104
C. Pathirana lbw b Mowjood 22
C. Fonseka c K. Perera b Mowjood 1
C. Kumarasinghe c Rajapakse b Mowjood 0
S. Peiris run out 58
L. Peiris b Vithanage 21
D. Walpita lbw b Rajapakse 11
A. Kerner not out 0
EXTRAS (lb-3, b-1, w-2, nb-8) 14
TOTAL (all out in 165.1 overs) 411
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-10, 2-21, 3-230, 4-283, 5-285, 6-285, 7-342, 8-377, 9-411.
BOWLING: L. de Silva 9-1-28-1,
Y. Abeykoon 24-2-64-2,
B. Rajapakse 9-1-0-29-1,
C. Rajaratne 18-1-53-0,
H. Mowjood 25=3-57-3,
R. Rambukwella 11-3-25-0,
M. Thanthirigoda 46-18-81-0,
S. Hettiarachchi 2-0-18-0,
K. Vithanage 21-5-52-2.
ROYAL - FIRST INNINGS
(313-9 dec. - K.J.Perera 142, B. Rajapakse 87)
ROYAL - 2ND INNINGS
K.J. Perera run out 9
B. Rajapakse c Fernando b Walpita 13
J.K. Vithanage c S. Peiris b Walpita 0
S. Hettiarahchi not out 15
R. Rambukwella not out 0
EXTRAS (lb-3, b-2) 5
TOTAL (for 3 wkts at close in 7 overs) 42
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-18, 2-19, 3-42.
BOWLING: D. Walpita 4-0-17-2,
C. Pathirana 3-0-20-0. |
