Under 19 Quarter Finals: Tier ‘B’ Shanikya, Vihas shine, guide Thurstan to semis

By M. Shamil Amit   

Shanikya Deshapriya shone with a quick fire 48 ball knock of 87 that included five boundaries and seven towering sixes while Vihas Thewmika bagged five scalps to help Thurstan recording a crushing 168 run win over Dharmaraja in the Under 19 Division One Tier ‘B’ limited over tournament quarter final encounter played at Darley Road.   
Deshapriya associated in a valuable 113 runs stand for the fourth wicket with Vihas Thewmika who chipped in with 35 for Thurstan taking first lease of the wicket to make a formidable score of 250 for 7 which was curtailed to 40 overs.   

Dharmaraja in their run chase was making steady progress with Sri Lanka U19 player Pulindu Perera leading the way but the separation of the opening pair with the dismissal of Perera with the score on 23 saw them losing four quick wickets for the addition of just seven runs as they slid to 30 for 5 in the eight over.    From there on they never recovered as they succumbed to right arm spinner Vihas Thewmika who did the early damage as they lost four more quick wickets for the addition of 59 runs and was restricted for a score of 82.   
Meanwhile two other quarter finals were abandoned due to rain and the wet outfield not fit for play. De Mazenod in the Tier ‘A’ and St. Peter’s in the Tier ‘B’ categories qualified to the quarter final due to having ended the league segment with a better record. 

Result:

At Darley Road – Thurstan won by 168 runs

Thurstan 250 for 7 in 40 overs (Shanikya Deshapriya 87, Vihas Thewmika 35, Thanuja Rajapakse 34, Navindu Fernando 18, Malitha de Costa 41 n.o.: Pulindu Perera 3/63)   
Dharmaraja 82 for 9 in 40 overs (Arosa Mahagedera 16, Dulara Bandulasena 18 n.o.: Vihas Thewmika 5/18, Thanuja Palihawadana 2/16)