Blues Battle fizzles out to a boring draw
View(s):- 145th Battle of the Blues
By M. Shamil Amit
In the first session, Royal were replying to the Thomians total of 297, resuming from their overnight score of 234 for 7. The overnight pair Nethwin Dharmaratne and Bulan Weeratunga walked into the crease and added a further 25 runs before they were separated, with Weeratunga becoming the fifth victim of right-arm spinner Ashen Perera at 259.
Thomian skipper Mahith Perera (left) and Royal skipper Sineth Jayawardena hold the D.S. Senanayake Memorial Shield that was presented by Rev. Marc Billimoria, Warden of S. Thomas’ and Thilak Waththuhewa, Principal of Royal in the presence of Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya (Group Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Telecommunications Business, Axiata Group Berhad) on left and Supun Weerasinghe (Director/Group Chief Executive, Dialog Axiata PLC) on right, after the 145th big match ended in a draw. However Royal retained the Shield as they won the 144th Battle of the Blues last year
Dharmaratne did not last long as he was dismissed after a brief stand of 18 runs for the ninth wicket with Ranuka Malaviarachchi, after which Royal declared at 278 for 9.
The innings of the two sides saw three half centuries scored. Sadev Soysa made 83 and Dineth Goonewardena hit 50 for the Thomians while Royal skipper Sineth Jayawardena was unfortunate to miss out on a ton by eight runs as he was dismissed for 92, Jayawardena came to the rescue of Royal by sharing a valuable 126-runs stand for the third wicket with Ovina Ambanpola.
Dineth Goonewardena (L) and skipper Mahith Perera (R) laboured to score half tons for S. Thomas' - Pix by Eshan Fernando
The Thomians, with a slender lead of 19 runs, batted for the second time and lost an early wicket when the score was 11, before their top scorer in the first innings, Sadev Soysa, joined by Dineth Goonewardena, put on 49 runs for the second wicket.
The separation of the pair followed with Thomian skipper Mahith Perera joining Goonewardena as the pair put in stiff resistance as they put on a stand of 100 runs. They further frustrated the Royal bowlers and succeeded to put up the 150 runs on the board and with the addition of 14 more runs saw right-arm spinner Ramiru Perera making the breakthrough for Royal with the wicket of Goonewardena. He cracked 74 that included five boundaries and two sixes, and became the seventh Thomian to hit successive half centuries in a big match.
Skipper Perera did not last long as he fell victim to his counterpart Jayawardena having made 63 runs with five boundaries and a six. The fifth wicket pair of Thisen Eeheliyagoda and Nathan Caldera took things under control and the duo held on till stumps and in the process negotiated just under 11 overs whilst sharing an unbroken 40 runs stand for the Thomians to end the day on 229 for 4.
Scoreboard
S. Thomas’ 1st innings 297 all out (88.2) (Sadev Soysa 83, Dineth Goonewardena 50, Nathan Caldera 44, Mahith Perera 36, Akash Fernando 29; Ramiru Perera 4/55, Sineth Jayawardena 4/68)
Royal 1st innings (234/7 o’night)
Isula Geeganage lbw b A. Perera 00
Rehan Peiris b Fernando 01
Sineth Jayawardena c and b Diego 92
Ovina Ambanpola c and b A. Perera 36
Yasindu Dissanayake b Diego 01
Ramiru Perera lbw b A. Perera 23
Dinura Senaratne c Soysa b A. Perera 33
Nethwin Dharmaratne c Soysa b Caldera 41
Bulan Weeratunga c and b A. Perera 16
Ranuka Malaviarachchi not out 09
Yenula Bandara not out 00
Extras (b15, lb6, nb4, w1) 26
Total (9 wickets declared; 102.2 overs) 278
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-127, 4-130, 5-164, 6-164, 7-233, 8-259, 9-277.
Bowling: Akash Fernando 7-3-30-1, Ashen Perera 34-10-74-5, Nathan Caldera 21.2-6-45-1, Kavindu Dias 8-0-22-0, Abeeth Paranavidana 9-1-22-0, Darian Diego 20-4-40-2, Dineth Goonewardena 2-0-14-0, Mahith Perera 1-0-10-0
S. Thomas’ 2nd innings
Sadev Soysa b Perera 33
Senadhi Bulankulame c Dissanayake b Weeratunga 00
Dineth Goonewardena c and b Perera 74
Mahith Perera c and b Jayawardena 63
Thisen Eheliyagoda not out 31
Nathan Caldera not out 20
Extras (b8) 08
Total (4 wickets; 86 overs) 229
Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-60, 3-164, 4-189
Bowling: Bulan Weeratunga 4-0-10-1, Dinura Senaratne 2-0-16-0, Sineth Jayawardena 31-9-57-1, Ranuka Malaviarachchi 5-1-13-0, Ramiru Perera 28-5-87-2, Yenula Bandara 8-4-11-0, Nethwin Dharmaratne 8-2-27-0
