St. John’s record outright win after 25 years
St. John’s who came in as hot favourites for the 109th Battle of the North encounter against traditional rivals Jaffna Central lived up to their
Sebamalaipillai Jeni Flemin stretches foward during his top knock of 107 in St. John’s first innings against Jaffna Central Picture courtesy Gopikrishna Gopalakrishnan
expectations of their supporters when they recorded a convincing 84-run win in the game concluded at the Central ground in Jaffna yesterday.
The Johnians in fact are gaining an outright win over their rivals after a lapse of 25 years with the last being in 1990. According to an official they were winners in the year 2004 and last year but in reality the two wins were awarded to them after decisions made by the two school officials due to the match being stopped after the crowds invaded.
They came into the game with high hopes having had a successful inter-school cricket season. The foundation for the win was laid on day one by Sebamalaipillai Jen Flemin who made a fine knock of 107 supported by skipper skipper Sajeenthiran Kapilraj. The pair put on a match winning 100-run stand for the third wicket which paved the way for the Johnians taking first lease of the wicket to post a formidable score of 300 for 7 declared.
Later big match hero of last year Raviendran Lohathieswar’s four wicket haul helped the Johinans to bundle out the Centralites to a score of 164 on day two.
St. John’s resuming on their overnight score of 103 for 6 went on to add another 33 runs before declaring with the score on 136 for 7 leaving their opponents a target of 273 runs for victory.
Despite a fighting unbeaten knock of 72 coming from opener Sathakaran Thiresan he was forced to watch his partners from the other end being sent back to the pavilion.
The writing was almost on the wall as the Centralites were reeling on 95 for 5. Thiresan only succeeded in delaying an early win for their opponents and even a 52 runs stand for the eighth wicket with Sriskantharajah Gowthaman was in vain as it could not prevent the Johnians from cruising to an easy 84 runs victory. – MSA
| Scoreboard St. John’s 1st innings 300/7 declared (S. Jeni Flemin 107, S. Kapilraj 50, A. Gnanamirthan 33, P. Thuvarakaseelan 33: S. Mathusan 2 for 77) Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-20, 3-51, 4-92, 5-112, 6-112, 7-116, 8-141, 9-161. St. John’s 2nd innings (103/6 overnight) Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-35, 3-50, 4-67, 5-86, 6-103, 7-115 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-18, 3-19, 4-62, 5-95, 6-118, 7-132, 8-184, 9-187. Result: St. John’s College beat Jaffna Central by 84 runs |