Thomians drowned in Royal roar

By Ranjan Anandappa

Royal College produced a stunning fight-back to turn the tide and reverse fortunes against S. Thomas’ College who might take some time to comprehend what caused them to lose their 137th big match Battle of the Blues cricket encounter on the third day at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground in Colombo yesterday.

The Thomians and their supporters from all counts may go through some sleepless nights over the next couple of days trying to figure out how and why they lost their stranglehold in the match after declaring their first innings at 350 for 5 and then crashing for a paltry 127 in the second innings as Royal like the dark horse came from behind to shatter the party hopes of their arch enemy.

Royal needed just 150 for victory which they had no difficulty in reaching as Malith Kariyawasam (38 n.o) held the stage after his team lost four wickets in pursuit of the target.

With both teams scoring over 300 plus in the first innings, the match may have been destined for a draw.

But the poor batting display by the Thomians in their second innings opened the floodgates for an interesting tussle and Royal made certain not to miss the opportunity.

When Royal continued their overnight total of 280 for 7, the main focus was on Pasindu Sooriyabandara (97 not out) whether he could get that elusive century. He did so unnerved before he was bowled by Kodituwakku for 123 with seventeen fours.

Sooriyabandara was engaged in two useful stands first with Kariyawasam adding 139 for the sixth wicket and later another 59 runs with Helitha Vithanage.

Royal declared with a deficit of 22 runs.

The Thomians got off to a disastrous start in their second innings losing the first innings centurion Rashmika Opatha for 8 as paceman Himesh Ramanayake was able to extract some life off the pitch and kept the Thomian batsmen guessing.

None of the Thomian batsmen could really settle down and they lost wickets at regular intervals.

SCOREBOARD
S. Thomas’ first innings 350 for 5 dec (Rashmika Opatha 124)
Royal first innings 328 for 9 dec (P. Suriyabandara 123) 

S.Thomas’ 2nd innings 
Y. Mendis bowled Ramanayake 				18
R.Opatha ct. Panditharatne b. Ramanayake 		08
R.Kodituwakku ct. Danapala b. Vithanage 		06
Y.Perera ct. Kariyawasam b. Hettiarachchi 		07
D.Peiris bowled Ramanayake 				22
R.Thilakaratne ct. Hettiarachchi b. Embuldeniya 	06
R.Nallaperuma ct. Vithanage b. Sandeepa 		12
S.Jayatilleke lbw b. Embuldeniya 			02
D.Gunatilleke ct. Jayawardane b. Ramanayake 		06
Senal de Silva not out 					28 
H.Liyanarachchi ct. Vidanapathirana b. Hettiarachchi 	04
Extras (5b, 2w, 1n) 					08
Total (all out) 				       127

Bowling: Ramanayake 13-1-64-4
	 Vithanage 7-1-23-1
	 Embuldeniya 17-7-21-2
	 Hettiarachchi 2.5-0-7-2
	 Sandeepa 6-3-7-1

Royal 2nd Innings
N.Vidanapathirana ct. Mendis b. Jayatilleke 		29
R.Jayawardena lbw de Silva 				00
P.Sooriyabandara ct. Gunatilleke b. Liyanarachchi 	28 
Tiran Danapala ct. Gunatilleke b. Opatha 		10
M. Kariyawasam not out 					38
G. Panditharatne bowled Tillekeratne 			19 
H Vithanage ct. Mendis b. Jayatilleke 			05
G Sandeepa not out 					14 
Extras (3lb, 2w, 2n) 					07
Total (for 6 wickets) 				       150

Bowling: Senal de Silva 4-0-29-1
	 Liyanarachchi 6-0-35-1
	 S. Jayatilleke 7-0-29-2
	 Y. Perera 1-0-9-0
	 D. Peiris 1-0-2-0
	 Opatha 9-0-32-1
	 R. Tillekeratne 3-0-11-1