Gurutalawa Thomians beat Bandarawela Thomians by 4 wkts

CRICKET: S. Thomas' College Gurutalawa led by Udesh Ranaweera beat S. Thomas' College Bandarawela by 4 wickets with 2 hours to spare at the Bandarawela Esplanade on May 21.

STC Bandarawela batting first made 282 in 47.3 overs and Gurutalawa S. Thomas' went on to win the match, scoring 284 runs in 47.2 overs and won the match, winning the Headmasters E. St. Patrick Gunawardene and S.L.A. Ratnayake Trophies for the first time since the annual encounter was revived in 2009.

The last occasion that STC Gurutalawa won this encounter was in 1987 after which it was stopped due to a number of unavoidable circumstances.

It is to the credit of a School with a small number of students and limited facilities that it was able to achieve this win and much of the credit must go to the STC Gurutalawa Cricket Coach K. Mohan Kumar for having brought about such a positive change in the cricket standards at Guru since he took over in November 2010.

Prof. Mohan de Silva, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Sri Jayawardenepura and a distinguished old boy of STC Gurutalawa, was the Chief Guest on the occasion while Chaminda Wijesiri, Mayor of Bandarawela and a distinguished old boy of STC Bandarawela, was Guest of Honour.

A traditional 'Big Match' atmosphere prevailed on the Bandarawela MC Grounds as supporters, old boys and present students of both these leading schools in this region displayed good discipline and friendly rivalry as they enjoyed the match.

The joint Organising Committee comprising the two Headmasters, Prefects of Games, old boys and sports staff of both schools led by Mr. Dinesh Wijekannan put in a lot of hard work in organizing the event and seeing to all the ground arrangements etc.

On the previous day a Thomian Motor Rally was also held that paraded through Bandarawela Town.

STC BANDARAWELA: 282 IN 47.3 overs (Ashan Weeraman 31, Nihanga Liyanage 62, Hansaka Liyanarachie 43, Nalan Jayawickrema 32, Tharindu Bandara 2 for 17, Arjuna Silva 3 for 68, Ravishan Wickremarachie 2 for 0).

STC GURUTALAWA: 284 for 6 wkts in 47.2 overs (M.T.S. Maduka 74, Tharindu Bandara 41, Arjuna Silva 71 not out, A.M. Sarath Chandra 32 not out, Manoj Prabath 3 for 45, Nalan Jayawickreme 1 for 48, Nilanga Liyanage 1 for 25, Hansaka Liyanarachie 1 for 53).