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Richmond stun Nalanda; Sebs come from behind to win
Inter-School Cricket Review
By M. Shamil Amit
The dawn of the new year opens the gate for another exciting inter-school cricket season where 25 of the best school cricket teams around the island vie for the Elephant Lemonade Cup trophy presented by Ceylon Cold Stores. The defending champions will go all out to retain the title for yet another year.

With the inter-school cricket matches in full swing over ten matches were played in the week ending Friday (January 2 2004). Four ended in outright wins where St. Sebastian's, after some anxious moments, recorded a well earned two wicket win over Nalanda, Ananda crushed Dharmapala Pannipitiya by an innings and 16 runs, S. Thomas' outplayed Mahinda Galle by ten wickets and Piliyandala Central recorded an innings and 49 runs win over S. de S. Jayasinghe MMV Dehiwala.

The other games ended in first innings wins and of those matches a game that should be highlighted is the win by Richmond College, Galle who created an upset when they got the better of the strong Nalandians.

St Sebastian's vs Nalanda
This was the best of the outright wins recorded. The Sebs had already conceded first innings points to their opponents but came back to win by two wickets. This was the third successive year that the Sebs have won outright against Nalanda.

It was the all-round performance of opening batsman and right arm off spinner Sanjeewa Fernando supported by right arm leg spinner Lahiru Anthony that paved the way for a win.

The Nalandians had to blame themselves for the poor showing by their batsmen who threw away their wickets. Taking first lease of the wicket the Campbell Place boys were tied down by some fine bowling by pace bowler Geeth Silva and spinner Lahiru Anthony, but managed to score a modest 168.

They were not able to score a single run, losing their last five wickets for the same score of 120. They succumbed to spinners Sanjeewa and Lahiru who had figures of 5 for 18 and 4 for 28, respectively. Only Sachitra Serasinghe made a knock of 48 for the Nalandians. The Sebs left with a victory target of 134 which seemed nothing and with plenty of time on hand, were cruising well on 103 for 3 but a rush of blood by the batsmen put them in a spot of bother, losing five wickets within a space of 30 runs, but pulled off the game. It was Sanjeewa again who put his head down to contribute 49 valuable runs.

Ananda vs Dharmapala
The Anandians had no difficulty in demolishing Dharmapala Pannipitiya who are playing in the lower division this year having being demoted from the top division at the end of last season. Ananda batsman Mahela Udawatte reached a milestone when he cracked a swashbuckling 174 which had 23 hits to the ropes and two sixes coupled by another half century by Thilina Kumarasinghe which helped the team to score a formidable 282 for 4 and declare. In reply the Dharmapalians made 171 but put up a poor show in the second essay being bundled out for just 95.

S. Thomas' vs Mahinda
The Thomians dominated this game with no resistance coming their way to record an easy ten wickets win over Mahinda who are also playing in the lower division. Acting skipper Pramuditha Rodrigo and Sanjeewa Mendis (son of Duleep Mendis) were the stars in this encounter. Pramuditha with figures of 6 for 49 in the first innings and Sanjeewa with figures of 5 for 54 in the second innings mapped out the victory for the Thomians.

In the batting department for the winners Dhanushka Colombage with an unbeaten 63 and Sanjeewa with a knock of 43 helped them reach 220. Mahinda were able to muster only 107 and in the second innings fared better to make 163 which left the Thomians to get 65 for a win which they achieved with minimum fuss.

Piliyandala Central vs S. de S. Jayasinghe MMV
A match bag of ten for 79 by R. Padmika and two good knocks one by D. Ariyasinghe (100) and K. Pradeep (56) for Piliyandala Central were the highlights of this match where Piliyandala Central beat S. de S. Jayasinghe MMV, Dehiwala by an innings and 49 runs.

St. Aloysius vs DSS
St. Aloysius Galle playing in the lower division started their campaign for the season in style when they overcame D.S.Senanayake College Colombo who were placed fourth in the points table at the conclusion last season. DSS taking first lease of the wicket made a challenging 286 for 9 and declared and if they thought it was a sufficient score they were sadly mistaken.

The Galle boys taking up the challenge showed nothing was impossible with their batsmen putting their heads down made slow progress with Kumara (56) supported by Vimukthi Anuradha, Ruwan Ratnatileke and Hirantha Jayasekera. They ended the day on 309 for 9 which gave them a well deserved first innings win.

Richmond vs Nalanda
Richmond, another school from the southern district, with less facilities who do not have their own grounds pulled off another shock when they beat fancied Nalanda on an innings. In fact the match had to be played at Matara due to non availability of a ground in Galle.

The Richmond bowlers W.P.G. Ravindra (4 for 51), E.H.S. Udayakumara (3 for 28) and C. Gunasinghe (2 for 24) had the Nalandians reeling and bundled them out for 136. And then sent the Nalandian bowlers on a ball hunt to end the first day on a bold 126 for 2. It was E.H.S. Udayakumara who led the hunt with an unbeaten 50.

Resuming on day two Richmond needing just ten runs to overhaul their opponents score, having achieved their target went for quick runs and ended their innings on 185 with overnight batsman Udayakumara contributing 72. Skipper Madura Warnapura with 5 for 50 and Yasas Hewavitharana 5 for 50 shared the wickets for Nalanda. Batting the second time the Nalandians made 212 for 2 with Sachitra Serasinghe making 91 and S. Wijesinghe being unbeaten on 55.

Lumbini vs Thurstan
A fine knock of 76 by Osuka Mahaarachchi gave Thurstan a first innings win over Lumbini MV. The game was well balanced at the end of day one. The Havelock Park school though making a low score of 154 fought back to capture seven of their opponents wickets for 84 but the Thurstanites ended the day on 100 for 7.

Coming back on day two, overnight batsman Osuka and A. Samsudeen (22 n.o.) played cooly to see them overhaul Lumibini's score. Lumbini batting the second time made 260 with S. Peiris making 103 and H. Chaturanga 52.

Royal vs St. Benedict's
The Royalists having put themselves in a strong position at the end of day one on 285 for 8 declared with Dimithri Siriwardena, Heshan Morawaka and D. Edasuriya doing the bulk of the scoring and the Bens on 70 for 3 found no resistance on day two to register a first innings win over the Benedictines.

The Bens resuming on day two were bowled out for 211 with L. Perera making 66. C. Somapala (3 for 32) and G. Wijeratne (4 for 44) were the successful bowlers for Royal. Royal in their second essay were helped by an unbeaten 51 by young Dimithri Siriwardena. They made a score of 119 for 2 and declared. The Benedictines chasing a victory target of 194 ended the day on 98 for 6.

Wesley vs Isipathana
Isipathana who have been having ups and downs in the ongoing cricket season registered a first innings win against Wesley. The Isipathanians taking first lease of the wicket on day one, though not having any individual scores, made a respectable 226. To this score the Wesleyites ended the day on 19 for 2.

The Wesleyites resuming on day two had to undergo tremendous pressure in keeping their wickets in tack. But opening bowler Nilanchana Sankalpa (4 for 47) and spinners Gihan Dilruk (2 for 20) and skipper Saman Nishantha (2 for 21) combined well to bundled their opponents out for 179. Wesley skipper Nuwan Samith was the pick of the batsmen making 42. Isipathana batting the second time were 84 for 7 at close.

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