39th Battle of Kotte: Even exchanges at Moors grounds
Dushan Sachinthana of St. Thomas’ drives during his knock of 32 - Pic by Ranjith Perera
Aided by three fruitful partnerships for the 2nd, 5th and 7th wickets St. Thomas College, Kotte closed their first innings at 193 for the loss of nine wickets on the first day in the 39th Battle of Kotte cricket encounter against their traditional rivals Sri Jayawardanepura MV at the Moors grounds yesterday. In reply Sri J’pura were 26 for no loss at the close.
A fighting second wicket partnership on a slow turner in the morning by left hander Nadeesha Bandara and Dushan Sachinthana took them for lunch with the scoreboard reading 69 for 1. Things turned dramatically when three quick wickets fell at 90 including Bandara (38 with five fours) and Sachinthana (32 including six boundaries) soon after lunch. At lunch Bandara was on 33 while Sachinthana with him on 21.
The left arm spin combination of Yasindu Yulantha and Kavinda Dissanayake capitalised on the turning wicket to capture seven out of the nine wickets that fell. A fifth wicket partnership of 46 runs by Tharusha Priyanga (47 with six fours) and Manula Perera (11) followed by another valuable partnership for the 7th wicket by Tharusha Priyanga (25) and Kavisha Samaraweera (25 in 61 deliveries) pulled the Thomians out of the early set back of losing three front line batsmen which enabled them to reach 193 for 9.
Yasindu Yulantha maintained a nagging length to trouble the batsmen to finish with figures of 30-11-54-5 while Kavinda Dissanayake’s figures read 27.2-8-58-2 at the declaration.
Action at yesterday’s match
Sri Jayawardenapura MV were 26 without loss in 6 overs at the close. Skipper Dinuka Deminda looked confident to remain on 15. A more positive approach by both schools today will help to break the 14 year old hoodoo of no-decisions.
Chief Scores:
St. Thomass 193 for 9 decl. (90.2) (Nadeesha Bandara 38, Dushan Sachinthana 32, Tharusha Priyanga 47, Kavisha Samaraweera 25, Yasindu Yulantha 5 for 54, Kavinda Dissanayake 2 for 58, R. Chaturanga 1 for 24)
Sri J’pura 26 for no loss at close (6) (Dinuka Deminda 15 n.o., Buddhika Ruwan 9 n.o.)