Trinity plods day one to make 203

By M. Shamil Amit   

Trinity, invited to take first lease of the wicket, plodded almost the whole of day one facing 89.5 overs to make a score of 203 in the three day final of the Under 19 inter-school Division One Tier ‘A’ played at the SSC ground.   
The Trinitians were given a sound start by openers Dimantha Mahavithana and Viduka Dhammage with the pair putting on 71 before right arm spinner Sharon Abishek made the breakthrough with the wicket of Dhammage who made 31 with five boundaries.   
The separation followed with Mahavithana sharing a brief stand of 34 runs for the second wicket with Dinusha Peiris with Abishek being again responsible for the wicket of Mahavithana.   
Trinity was made to struggle for their runs as the Richmond bowlers had them bogged down and it was Abishek who did the damage again when he bagged two more wickets that of Mahavithana who made a top score of 54 that included seven boundaries and Trinity skipper Manula Kularatne who was able to make only a contribution of six runs.   
Despite Supun Waduge making some resistance he was forced to see losing partners at the other end as Trinity lost wickets at regular intervals. From 134 for 4 they slid to 178 for 8 including the wicket of Waduge who made a dogged innings of 40 in 96 balls.   
It was the right arm pace duo Sihath Ramanayake and Kaveesha Induwara who did the damage of Trinity’s late order as the pair shared five wickets between them to bowl them out for 203 runs.   
Richmond in their turn facing eight overs ended the day one on 18 for no loss. The match will be continued today.   

Result:
At SSC
Trinity 203 (89.5 Overs) (Dimantha Mahavithana 54, Supun Waduge 40, Viduka Dhammage 31: Sharon Abishek 4/71, Sihath Ramanayake 3/38, Kaveesha Induwara 2/46)   
Richmond 18 for no loss.   

(Pix by Kushan Pathiraja)