Bens shock Richmond to secure semi-final spot

Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ quarter-final

A hurricane knock of 44 runs by Shenel Samarathunga and all-round bowling performances in the first innings helped St. Benedict’s fight back to earn a semi-final spot as they defied formidable Richmond in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ tournament quarter-final at Dombagoda on Tuesday.

After being bowled out for 175 runs, the Bens fought back to take nine Richmond wickets for 96 runs. Richmond declared their first innings at 96 for nine wickets and were on their way to making a huge comeback as they took six wickets for 79 runs. That was when Samarathunga shattered their hopes.

The number seven batsman Samarathunga cracked 44 runs in 26 balls inclusive of four fours and two sixes to help Bens post 120 runs.

That left Richmond with an unlikely target of 200 runs to chase. Bhanuka Manohara and Maheesha de Silva scored half of the target but Richmond could score only 142 for five wickets in 19 overs.

St. Benedict’s thus secured the first innings win to book the semi-final spot.

Scores:

St. Benedict’s

175 all out in 73 overs (Viduneth Wilson 20, Sharujan Shanmuganathan 70, Chamath Chathurya 38, Aarshan Joseph 19n.o.; Tharinda Nirmal 4/51, Sharon Abhishek 3/42) and 120 all out in 37 overs (Viduneth Wilson 26, Shenel Samarathunga 44; Kaveesha Induwara 3/40, Tharinda Nirmal 5/23)

Richmond

96 for 9 decl. in 47.3 overs (Bhanuka Manohara 49; Vihara Aththanayake 2/08, Mevan Dissanayake 2/21, Onesh Mickael 2/26) and 142 for 5 in 19 overs (Bhanuka Manohara 46, Maheesha de Silva 54; Vihara Aththanayake 3/42)