S.Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia took on Thurstan College, Colombo for a two day match on the 3rd of June, 2022 at the S.Thomas’ College Big Club Grounds. Ryan Fernando, the Thomian captain won the toss and elected to bat first.
The Thomian openers started strongly and stitched up an 81-run stand for the 1st wicket before Abeygunawardhane fell for 27. Afterwards, Bulankulama was trapped LBW for 38, triggering a collapse in the Thomian middle order. Ryan Fernando scored 27 and was the only other batsmen to surpass the 20-run mark in the Thomian batting order. Collective breakthroughs from the Thurstanites dented the Thomians and left them 9 down for 182 before they declared.
S.Thomas’ College started off well with the ball with Caniston and Dais picking up the Thurstan openers cheaply. The visitors couldn’t build any momentum in the middle as the Thomians ran through their middle order and left them stuttering at 63 for 6. Deshapriya looked the pick of the batsmen scoring 25 runs. Caniston picked up an astonishing 5 wicket haul for just 33 runs and was supported by Fernando and Dais, who picked up 2 wickets each. Thurstan College was bowled out for 90 runs before the end of 38 overs.
In pursuit of a second innings victory the Thomians came back onto the field to bat with a healthy lead of 92 runs. However, the ball continued to dominate the bat as the Thurstanites were able to pick up wickets in quick succession. Nipun Premarathna starred with an extraordinary 5-wicket haul for 24 runs and the Thomians declared at 96 for the loss of 8 wickets with Bulankulama top scoring with 34.
The clock kept ticking as Thurstan College came onto bat chasing a target of 188 in the fourth innings. A fiery spell from Caniston brought the home side into the game with 3 quick wickets. Thurstan captain, Jayasinghe, who smashed a 30 ball fifty alongside Harshana (37) managed to get through the initial jitters and built up a solid partnership of 68 rescuing the visitors. The innings was restricted to 19 overs and play was suspended on day two as Thurstan College managed to survive the day’s play at 5 for 96.
The match was drawn but S.Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia claimed first innings honours. The game overall proved to be difficult for the batsmen and most parts of the game were dominated by the bowlers. Gunaratnam Caniston was the pick of the bowlers from both sides picking up a match bag of 8 wickets with figures of 5 for 33 and 3 for 23.
M. N. Dayaratne – The Ternion