Weerasekara steers Royal to 6-wicket win at Roy-Tho Adelaide

By Charit Tissera in Adelaide

An outstanding 64-run-knock by the youngster Uvindu Weerasekara steered Royal College to a six-wicket win at the 9th Battle of the Blues - Royal Thomian Adelaide Cricket Encounter played on March 3, 2024 (Sunday) at the Hectorville Cricket Grounds in Adelaide, South Australia.

Winning the toss, Royal skipper Tharindu Manchanayake elected to field first. Manchanayake himself grabbed the first wicket of the Thomian opener Jehan Thahir as Thahir was caught at slip by Royal's Shanil Samarasinghe.

Kavisha Kishor and Rohan Joshna managed to seal a 47-run partnership for the Thomians, which was however short lived when a Pinindu Weerasekara delivery nicked off Kishor’s bat and Samarasinghe worked his quick reflexes yet again for a successful catch at the first slip.

With a total of 70 runs in board for the loss of three wickets in the 19th over, St. Thomas' College was hoping its middle order would put up a partnership that would threaten the Royal bowlers. However the Royal bowling attack managed to grab quick three wickets with Esala De Livera being bowled out by Buddhika Arsecularatne for 9, Devinda Fernando run-out for 1 by Uvindu Weerasekara and Rohan Joshna being caught by Gayan Silva for 32 for a Dulith Hettiarachchi delivery.

With 89 runs for six wickets on the 26th over, Thomians faced another blow as Manesh Fernando was stumped out by Manojkumar Siva for a yet another Pinindu Weerasekara delivery, when Fernando had added 17 runs to the Thomian total. Uditha Rajasekara added 17 more runs to the Thomian total off 18 deliveries, but he was run-out yet again by Uvindu Weerasekara when the St. Thomas’ College total was at 116.

St. Thomas’ College recorded a total of 131 runs on board at the end of 35 overs.

The target of 132 in 40 overs seemed an easy one for the Royalists, however two tricky deliveries off Esala De Livera created a major upset for the Royal opening duo Shanil Samarasinghe and Joel Ariyadorai as they were caught LBW within the first five overs of the Royal Innings.

An impressive 68-run partnership which came off the bats of Royal’s Dhan Uswatte and Uvindu Weerasekara restored the victory hopes for the Royalists. However, when the Royal’s total was 90, the Thomians made yet another breakthrough by bowling out Uswatte for 38, thanks to a Kasun Silva delivery.

Gayan Silva then joined Uvindu Weerasekara in the middle, where Weerasekara continued to score a half ton for the Royalists. He included seven 4’s and two 6’s to record 64 runs off his bat, and just one run spared from the target, Weerasekara was caught by Mahen Fernando for a Jehan Thahir delivery.

Sachinda Fernando who replaced Weerasekara in the middle, scored the winning run for the Royalists.

The ‘Man of the Match’ and ‘Best Batsman’ titles were awarded to Uvindu Weerasekara, his brother Pininidu Weerasekara was awarded the ‘Best Bowler’ while Shanil Samarasinghe was awarded the ‘Best Fielder’.

With this year's win, Royal College is leading the tally of the Battle of the Blues - Royal Thomian Adelaide Cricket Encounter by 6 to 3. 

The 9th Battle of the Blues - Royal Thomian Adelaide Cricket Encounter was organized by the Joint Committee of Royal College and St. Thomas' College Old Boys Associations in Adelaide, South Australia.

Match Highlights

St. Thomas’ College - Batting - 131 all out (35 overs)

Rohan Joshna - 32

Kavisha Kishor - 20

Kasun Silva - 17

Manesh Fernando - 17

Uditha Rajasekara - 17

Extras - 8

Royal College - Bowling

Pinindu Weerasekara : 7 overs | 29 runs | 3 wkts

Tharindu Manchanayaka : 6.1 overs | 18 runs | 2 wkts

Buddhika Arsecularatne : 6 overs | 2 maidens | 13 runs | 1 wkt

Manojkumar Siva : 4 overs | 20 runs | 1 wkt

Dulith Hettiarachchi : 3 overs | 11 runs | 1 wkt

Royal College - Batting - 132/4 (21 overs)

Uvindu Weerasekara - 64

Dhan Uswatte - 38

Gayan Silva - 17 (not out)

Extras - 10

St. Thomas’ College - Bowling

Esala De Livera : 4 overs | 29 runs | 2 wkts

Kasun Silva : 4 overs | 35 runs | 1 wkt

Jehan Thahir : 1 over | 2 runs | 1 wkt

Royal College team - Shanil Samarasinghe, Joel Aiyadorai, Dhan Uswatte, Uvindu Weerasekara, Gayan Silva, Dulith Hettiarachchi, Sachinda Fernando, Pinindu Weerasekara,

Manojkumar Siva, Tharindu Manchanayaka, Buddhika Arsecularatne, Thilina Gunasekara, Charit Tissera

St. Thomas’ College team - Jehan Thahir, Kasun Silva, Kavisha Kishor, Rohan Joshna, Esala De Livera, Devinda Fernando, Manesh Fernando, Uditha Rajasekara, Yashod Enduruwa, Mahen Fernando, Dulan Peiris, Adarsh Nanayakkara