St. Joseph’s and Trinity were declared joint champions of the Under-19 Division One Tier ‘A’ two-day inter-schools cricket tournament after the final, which was played at the Ace Capital CC ground in Narahenpita, ended in a draw today.

It was unfortunate to see that only one day of play was possible in a tournament of this nature after the first day’s proceedings were washed out without a ball being bowled.

However, when play resumed on day two, the writing was on the wall that the outcome of either team becoming champions would not materialise. Proceedings in the morning session saw the Josephians taking the first lease of the wicket and being made to struggle for their runs as left-arm spinner Theeraka Ranatunga and right-arm pacie Vibhavith Ehelepola did the early damage and had them in tatters, sending five of the top-order batsmen back to the pavilion with just 57 runs on the board.

But Muditha Dissanayake, who made a top score of 79, inclusive of nine boundaries and four sixes, and Naren Muralitharan, who hit 71 with five boundaries and a six, came to their rescue with the pair sharing a valuable 112-run stand for the sixth wicket. The separation of the pair saw the Josephians lose their remaining four wickets for the addition of just 33 runs before being bowled out for 202.

Left-arm spinners Theeraka, who ended with five scalps, Dinuka Tennekoon, and pacie Vibhavith shared the wickets for Trinity.

Trinity in their turn had the opportunity of only facing 19 overs. They too underwent some anxious moments as they lost the first three wickets with nine runs on the board before Manuka Kularatne and Supun Waduge came to their rescue with the pair sharing an unbroken 50-run stand for the fourth wicket, allowing Trinity to end the day on 59/3.

Trinity, having clinched the limited-over title earlier, had the satisfaction of bagging the double after 11 years after finishing as joint champions. In 2012, Trinity bagged all three titles, including the T20 encounter.

Result

At Kirimandala Mawatha - Match drawn
St. Joseph’s 202 (Muditha Dissanayake 79, Naren Muralitharan 71, Sadeesh Jayawardena 15; Theeraka Ranatunga 5/59, Dinuka Tennekoon 3/70, Vibhavith Ehelepola 2/20)

Trinity 59/3 (Manuka Kularatne 33 n.o., Supun Waduge 16 n.o.).  By M. Shamil Amit / Pix by: NimalsiriEdirisinghe