Harshana, Thewmika shine as Thurstan reach final  

Under 19 Division I Tier ‘B’ 

by Reemus Fernando  

Tharindu Harshana with a half-century and Vihas Thewmika with all-round performances excelled for Thurstan as they reached the final of the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘B’ cricket tournament. They beat Maris Stella by 66 runs according to DLS method in a rain hampered semi-final played at Surrey Village Ground, Maggona on Wednesday.

Chasing a target of 226 runs to win Maris Stella were 92 for six wickets when bad weather stopped the match. They were 66 runs behind the DLS par score.

Nipun Premaratne struck early to remove open bat Shane Adithya for 10 runs to jolt Maris Stella’s chase before Vihas Thewmika spun a web to snare three batsmen. The most crucial wicket was that of Kaveen Fernando who was anchoring the top order. Maris Stella were slowly recovering after top order flopped (54 for 5) when Thewmika bowled him for a 60-ball 30. Mahindu Malith and Eveen Kalhara survived five more balls before bad weather ended the match.

Winning a vital toss, Thurstan had open bat Tharindu Harshana making a vital contribution. His half century held their top order together. He faced 80 balls and scored four boundaries in his 58 runs. While Thewmika and skipper Bawantha Jayasinghe made valuable 30s, Azeem Mohomed and Thenuka Dewappriya cracked quickfire 20s.

Thurstan will now meet the winners of today’s semi-final between St. Peter’s and Isipatana in the final.

Today’s Tier ‘B’ semi-final will be played at the same venue.

Scores:

Thurstan

225 for 9 in 50 overs (Tharindu Harshana 58, Vihas Thewmika 33, Bawantha Jayasinghe 32, Thenuka Dewappriya 26, Azeem Mohomed 23; Eveen Kalhara 2/34, Hansaja Hiruna 2/34, Shane Adithya 2/42, Mahindu Malith 2/49) 

Maris Stella

92 for 6 in 29.4 overs (Kaveen Fernando 38; Vihas Thewmika 3/27)