Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ tournament
by Reemus Fernando
St. Joseph’s and Trinity will meet in the final to decide the champions of the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ tournament as they edged out their opponents in contrasting fashion in the semi-finals ended on Tuesday.
St. Joseph’s edged out St. Benedict’s through points after their match ended in a no decision at Mount Lavinia. Trinity scored an outright victory over Maliyadeva as Tharana Wimaladharma bagged eight wickets in the match played at Kirimandala Mawatha.
In reply to Maliyadeva’s 139, Trinity posted 199 runs thanks to vital contributions made by Rahal Amarasinghe (34), Dinusha Peiris (45) and Dinuka Tennakoon (36).
In their second essay Maliyadeva were dismissed for 99 runs. While Jayavi Liyanagama took three wickets, off-spinner Tharana Wimaladharma picked up his second four wicket haul of the match.
With that match bag of eight wickets Wimaladharma has now taken over 80 wickets in both limited overs matches and two-day matches.
Trinity were left with a target of 40 runs to chase for an outright victory and they achieved it for the loss of three wickets with many overs to spare.
At Mount Lavinia, St. Joseph’s continuing on their overnight total went on to amass 439 for seven wickets declared. Avintha de Alwis went on to score a century while Muditha Dissanayaka (78) and Lahiru Amarasekara (46n.o.) helped boost the score.
In their essay St. Benedict’s were 90 for six wickets at close. St. Joseph’s had accumulated enough points to secure their place in the final. Incidentally, St. Joseph’s are in their third consecutive final after having won back to back titles prior to the tournament was halted by covid 19 pandemic.
The finals of the Tier ‘A’ tournament will be played over the weekend. However both teams have expressed their concern over the scheduling of the final which coincides with Easter Sunday.
Match Details
Trinity beat Maliyadeva by seven wickets at Kirimandala Mawatha
Scores:
Maliyadeva
139 all out in 56.5 overs (Gayana Weerasinghe 65; Tharana Wimaladharma 4/34, Dinuka Tennakoon 3/37, Kaveen Gamage 2/23) and 99 all out in 42.4 overs (Gayana Weerasinghe 20; Jayavi Liyanagama 3/06, Tharana Wimaladarma 4/36)
Trinity
106 for 2 overnight 199 all out in 53.5 overs (Rahal Amarasinghe 34, Dinusha Peiris 45, Dinuka Tennakoon 36; Charuka Herath 4/43, Dimath Abeysinghe 3/61) and 41 for 3 in 10 overs (Dinusha Peiris 17n.o., Vathila Udara 17)
St. Joseph’s edge out St. Benedict’s on points at Mount Lavinia
Scores:
St. Joseph’s
294 for 3 overnight 439 for 7decl. in 148.5 overs (Sadeesh Jayawardana 44, Sahan Dabare 41, Naren Muralidaran 102, Avintha de Alwis 101, Muditha Dissanayaka 78, Lahiru Amarasekara 46n.o.; Mevan Dissanayake 4/137)
St. Benedict’s
90 for 6 in (Sharujan Shanmuganathan 33n.o., Shenel Samarathunga 21; Lahiru Amarasekara 2/26, Yenula Dewthusa 2/08)
