Rambukwella’s 103 give Royal easy win over S. Thomas’

Skipper Ramith Rambukwella slammed an unbeaten 103 as Royal romped to a comfortable victory and beat S. Thomas’ by 7-wickets to regain the Mustang Trophy in the 36th annual limited overs encounter at the SSC ground in Colombo yesterday.

Ramith Rambukwella gestures to the crowd after scoring his 100. He was unbeaten on 103. - Pic by Ranjith Perera

Royal chasing 168 to win achieved the modest total with well over 13 overs to spare in the match which was reduced to 41 overs per side. Rambukwella claimed the man-of-the-match award for his prolific knock which came off 82 balls. Rambukwella carried his bat throughout the innings and formed a productive opening partnership of 149 runs with Varuna Dissanayake who missed out a well deserved half century.

Dissanayake was unfortunately run out at 48 after he attempted a run which was nowhere. He faced 57 deliveries and hit five fours. Rambukwella who had an enterprising day reached his half century off 41 balls and recorded his century in 77 balls. S. Thomas’ bowlers were left as mere spectators as Rambukwella and Dissanayake took Royal to 100 runs in just 14.5 overs. Royal lost two more quick wickets soon after Dissanayake’s dismissal before Rambukwella at 60 survivedwhen Nuwan Kavinda dropped him at deep covers. Rambukwella hit 13 boundaries and a six during his knock.

Overnight showers and early morning overcast conditions forced the encounter to a late start. The match began at 11.45am after the officials decided to reduce nine overs from each inning.
S. Thomas’ were totally outclassed by Royal who displayed a superior performance in all departments. Royal looked well set to a comfortable win soon after S. Thomas’ were compelled to bat defensively after losing quick wickets. Rambukwella played an important role by carrying his bat throughout the innings though Royal could have easily had a cake walk win even if they lost a few more wickets.

ambukwella and opener Varuna Dissanayake set a solid platform for other batsmen to follow but the duo went on to share a marathon partnership which made Royal’s run chase even easier.
Put into bat first, S. Thomas’ showed a disappointing batting approach as they were curtailed to a meager 167. Royal attacked with sharp bowling and fielding from the very beginning to mount pressure on their opponents. Their positive approach gave Royal an early breakthrough then they managed to claim the wickets of S. Thomas’ opener Brian Dharmasena for a duck and dangerous Nuwan Kavinda before settling down. Opener Asiri Wickramanayake and deputy skipper Sachin Peiris played responsible roles to repair the fractured Thomian innings as they took their team from 11 for two wickets to a solid comeback. But medium paceman Bhanuka Rajapakshe came up with an unorthodox fielding plan to break the flourishing partnership before it caused Royal much trouble. He had Peiris brilliantly stumped by wicketkeeper Milan Abeysekara after adding 54 for the third wicket. Peiris made 29. S. Thomas’ were not looking good after losing the wicket of their skipper Chamod Pathirana too early at 70 as the fourth wicket.

Left-arm leg-spinner Devind Pathmanathan then made a timely breakthrough to claim the priceless wicket of Wickramanayake who was well settled for a big knock for 34. Wickramanayake departed as the fifth wicket at 89. Pathmanathan had Umesh Fernando caught behind for 11 as his second victim. He sat on a hat-trick after claiming the wickets of pinch-hitter Madushan Ravichandrakumar (4) and Kavindu Perera (16) as S. Thomas’ lost eight of their batsmen for 112. A cameo knock by Neomal Wickramasekara who clobbered 34 off 31 balls lifted the Thomians to 167. Pathmanathan who lead Royal to chase an easy target ended with four wickets for 34.

Scoreboard
S. Thomas’
Brian Dharmasena c Rambukwella b Khan 00
(Played a late cut, caught at first slip)
A. Wickramanayake c Rajapakshe b Pathmanadan 34
(Pulled and caught at short mid wicket)
Nuwan Kavinda c Abeysekara b Deva 06
(Attempted drive, caught behind)
Sachin Peiris st Abeysekara b Rajapakshe 29
(Stepped out to an outswinger)
Chamod Pathirana run out 02
(Attempted run at non-sriker’s end,
direct hit by Rajapakshe)
Kavindu Perera c Rajapakshe b Pathmanathan 16
(Pulled and caught at mid wicket)
Umesh Fernando c Abeysekara b Pathmanathan 11
(Attempted drive, caught behind)
M. Ravichandrakumar c Khan b Pathmanathan 04
(Pull and caught at deep mid wicket)
Neomal Wickramasekara run out 34
(Attempted second run, well short of the crease)
Ramith Gunaratne c Ramanayake b Deva 15
(Pulled and caught at mid wicket)
Rishane Mathangaweera not out 01
Extras (b1, w12, nb2) 15
Total (all out; 40.5 overs) 167
Fall-of-wickets: 1-0 (Dharmasena), 2-11 (Kavinda), 3-65 (Peiris), 4-70 (Pathirana), 5-89 (Wickramanayake), 6-103 (Fernando), 7-112 (Ravichandrakumara), 8-112 (Perera), 9-150 (Gunaratne), 10-167 (Wickramasekara)
Bowling: Imran Khan 5.5-1-32-1 (1w), Gaurav Deva 6-0-24-2 (2nb, 4w), Bhanuka Rajapakshe 8-1-30-1 (1w), Hashen Ramanayake 4-0-21-0 (1w), Ramith Rambukwella 8-0-25-0 (2w), Devind Pathmanathan 9-0-34-4

Royal
Varuna Dissanayake run out 48
(Attempted a quick run, sent back by non-striker)
Ramith Rambukwella not out 103
Supun Subasinghe lbw b Mathangaweera 02
(Attempted to pull a low pitched
delivery and missed)
Imal Liyanage b Fernand 06
(Played a cut, ball hit the
inside edge and hit the off stump)
Heshan Kumarasiri not out 01
Extras (lb1, w7) 08
Total (for 3 wickets; 27.5 overs) 168
Fall-of-wickets: 1-149 (Dissanayake), 2-151 (Subasinghe), 3-165 (Liyanage),
Did not bat: Bhanuka Rajapakshe, Hashen Ramanayake, Milan Abeysekara, Devind Pathmanathan, Imran Khan, Gaurav Deva
Bowling: Chamod Pathirana 6-0-47-0 (1w), Umesh Fernando 5-0-26-1 (3w), Rishane Mathangaweera 9-0-58-1, Brian Dharmasena 1-0-10-0, Madushan Ravichandrakumar 5.5-0-25-0 (3w), Neomal Wickramasekara 1-0-1-0