Thomians avenge last year's defeat; Royal thrashed by an innings
CRICKET: S.Thomas',
with a superior all round effort avenged their defeat last year
by completely outplaying Royal in all departments of the game to
win the 128th Battle of the Blues encounter by an innings and 44
runs at the SSC grounds yesterday.
The Thomians
accomplished their memorable win just 95 minutes into the
pre-lunch session when the panic stricken Royalist Kanishka
Boteju ran himself out as the Thomian fielders were on their
feet, skipper Ashan Peiris marshalling his side from the front.
It was the fielding of
either side that made the major difference. The Thomians were
absolutely on the spot in whatever they did on the field while
the Royalists faltered, particularly while the Thomian batsmen,
Peiris and Mazahir were cruising towards their big record
breaking partnership.
Royal who gave a
disappointing batting display in the first innings (being all
out for 167) fared no better while following on with a deficit
of 207 runs.
The situation required
a long and weighty innings by a couple of their top order
batsmen to save the game, but only Diren Warnakulasuriya (54),
Bhanuka Rajapakse (24) and Charith Fernando (31 n.o) batted with
any authority as the rest succumbed to the immense pressure
applied by the Thomians.
The Royalists were a
"well beaten side" for a few good reasons. Firstly it was the
weakness in their batting and the thinness in their bowling,
backed up by appalling fielding at times. To add to their woes
they won the toss and elected to field.
Besides Diren
Warnakulasuriya, Banuka Rajapakse and Charith. Fernando who
looked promising the others looked pretty rattled.
Skipper Haroon Mowjood
whose leg spin earned him a place in the junior national pool,
seemed to have lost confidence as the skipper, and with that
Royal lost their way very early in the game.
The Thomians no doubt
played to a plan which was well executed. They were aware of the
weakness in Royal's batting and being invited to bat was a
blessing in disguise for the them.
Nizam Mazahir (162)
and Ashan Peiris (161) who scored his second big match hundred
provided the base for the Thomian batting. Their bowling attack
was not that menacing but the enthusiastic fielding gave the
bowlers a tremendous boost which constantly had the Royalists
under pressure.
Royal began their
second innings on the third day morning at 124 for 6 still
needing 83 runs to make the Thomians bat again. There was much
speculation as to whether Royal could extend their stay at least
up to the lunch interval.
Charith Fernando the
overnight unbeaten, made his intentions clear batting sensibly,
but lack of support saw Royal losing wickets at regular
intervals.
In the 24 overs bowled
in the pre-lunch session they managed only 39 runs for the loss
of four wickets.
Leg spinner Milan
Fernando took the wickets of Thanthirigoda and Laksitha de Silva
while the Thomians fielding prowess was clearly displayed when
they ran out Yasith Abeykoon and Kanishka Boteju in a
sensational 90 minutes of play in the morning. All awards were
won by the Thomians.
Ranjan Anandappa
Taken from the STC -
OBA website.
