Click on the link to view the complete album – 134th Battle of the Blues – Day 03

The 134th Battle of the Blues was indeed a great moment in the history of Royal College as Devind Pathmanathan and his team managed to secure the illusive win over S. Thomas’ College at the SSC, after STC won the shield in 2007 and then gave way to a period of five consecutive draws. The first day saw Royal win the toss and elect to field, which set the tone for a brilliant bowling performance by Royal with Chamika Karunaratne standing out with a first innings total of 5 wickets, but STC fought back through a classy knock of 74 by Devin Jayasinghe. Devin’s performance managed only to prolong a Thomian collapse as the team eventually were dismissed for 192 in the 73rd over. Royal’s run chase began extremely positively as Roanaka Ahangama and Isuru Gunatillake put up 11 runs in just 1.2 overs and then saw the rain pour down to halt a day of dominating performances for Royal.

Day two saw the Royal openers continuing to bat confidently as Roanaka Ahangama produced some wonderful strokes to keep the Royal innings moving forward. Isuru Gunatillake was dismissed early but Roanaka continued to a blistering 40 and was disappointingly dismissed before reaching his half century. Sampath de Silva and the in – form Hashen Ramanayake steadied the Royal innings putting on a 85 run partnership before Ramanayake was dismissed for a well played 43 just after the lunch break. Heshan Kumarasiri joined the well set Sampath de Silva at the crease to put on a useful partnership of 31 runs. But both batsmen were dismissed in quick succession. De Silva was on his way to a tremendous Royal – Thomian century but couldn’t resist the temptation to step out to the bowling of Ravindu Thilakarathne and was stumped by Sanesh De Mel on 64. Next in were Milan Abeysekera and Poorna Aluthge. Milan being the highest run scorer of the season raced to his half century, destroying the Thomian bowling on the way while Poorna also made life very difficult for the bowlers. They put on a brilliant 72 together in just 12 overs but just as Milan reached his 50, the rains thundered down putting an end to another day of brilliant Royal performances. The Royal camp would have been expected to finish the day disheartened as they lost an entire session. The scoreboard read 260/5 which gave Royal a lead of 68.

Many would have analyzed the lead to be insufficient but Royal were going for the win from the very beginning and made an over night declaration looking to increase their chances of bringing back the shield. The Thomian second innings saw a very similar fate awaiting the them as they lost 5 wickets in the first session once again. Hashen Ramanayake who opened the bowling in the absence of the injured Anupa Tillakatratne picked up Nipuna Gamage in his 3rd over and went on to dismiss the dangerous Devin Jayasinghe 00 as well. Thomian Captain Javed Bongso could not match up to Chamika Karunaratne’s bowling as he fell LBW for 19 in a similar fashion to the first innings where he fell for 05 to the same bowler. Sanesh De Mel being the last senior player at the crease took on the responsibility of bringing about a Thomian resistance, but as he kept steady , there was chaos around him as all his partners fell in relatively small gaps. De Mel was on 49 as he tried to steal a quick single, but his partner I. Kularathne couldn’t make it to the other end as he was run out ending the Thomian innings for a mere 132. Royal needed 65 to win with 45 overs left in the day. Royal moved fast scoring at 6 runs an over as grey clouds were looming just behind the scoreboard. The quick pace cost Royal 3 wickets, but Royal reached the target very comfortably in just 10.5 overs as Milan Abeysekera sliced the ball through point to score the winning boundary.

The win saw the Royal crowds storm into the grounds in celebration as Royal had completed the task that was expected of them. A positive note to add on is that their was no animosity between the two schools as S. Thomas’ accepted defeat gracefully and Royal too were humble in their victory. Devind Pathmanathan received the award for Best Fielder. Devin Jayasinghe picked up Best Batsman being the highest run scorer in the game and Chamika Karunaratne picked up Best Bowler and Man of the Match for his outstanding performance of 9/87. We hope to see this great tradition continuing for years to come, keeping in heart that it’s not about winning or losing, but how you play the game.

We say congratulations to Devind & Milan along with the rest of the team, coaching staff,cricket administration and advisers and well played to S. Thomas’ College.

Floreat!

Match Summary

S. Thomas’ College 1st Innings 193 all out in 73.2 overs

Devin Jayasinghe 74
R. Thilakarathne 26*
Helakamal Nanayakkara 24

Chamika Karunarathne 5/55
Poorna Aluthge 2/22

Royal College 1st Innings 260/5 dec. in 63 overs

Sampath De Silva 64
Milan Abeysekara 50*
Hashen Ramanayake 43
Raonaka Ahangama 40

I. Kularatne 2/44
Helakamal Nanayakkara 1/28

S. Thomas’ College 2nd Innings 132 all out in 58.5 overs

Sanesh De Mel 49*
Deelaka Herath 25
Javed Bongso 19

Chamika Karunarathne 4/32
Hashen Ramanayake 2/36

Royal College 1st Innings 66/3 in 10.5 overs

Milan Abeysekera 22*
Roanaka Ahangama 16
Sampath de Silva 13
Isuru Gunatillake 12

Result – Royal Win