Muralidaran anchors Joes, Royal collapse against Trinity 

Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ Cricket Quarter-finals  

by Reemus Fernando   

Number four batsman Naren Muralidaran dropped anchor with a marathon 243-ball innings for St. Joseph’s to post 218 for nine wickets at stumps against Wesley on day one of the Under19 Division I Tier ‘A’ two-day tournament quarter-final match at Darley Road on Wednesday.

Opting to bat first, the Joes lost the first three wickets for 23 runs but Muralidaran held his end to guide the home team to safety as he batted for 86 overs. His knock included just five boundaries.

Muralidaran was joined by Rishma Amarasinghe, Muditha Dissanayake, Yenula Dewthusa and Dinuk Serasinghe for valuable partnerships as they toiled to stay ahead in points in pursuit of a semi-final place.

When a result is not achieved in these matches, the team with the highest bonus points advance to the semi-final. With nine wickets in their bag Wesley were still ahead on points at stumps. However, the Joes had the advantage on their home turf and would be looking to secure first innings points today.

At Asgiriya, Royal collapsed for 114 runs as Dinuka Tennakoon and Tharana Wimaladarma took three wickets each for Trinity to take the upper hand. An unbeaten 21 runs by paceman Bulan Weeratunga was the highest score for Royal.

In their essay, Trinity posted 195 runs with Lakwin Abeysinghe top scoring with 44 runs. Speedster Ranuka Malaviarachchi with five wickets was the standout performer for the boys from Reid Avenue.

Match Details

Muralidaran anchors St. Joseph’s at Darley Road

Scores:

St. Joseph’s

218 for 9 in 102 overs (Naren Muralidaran 67, Rishma Amarasinghe 24, Muditha Dissanayake 33, Yenula Dewthusa 26, Dinuk Serasinghe 26n.o.; Uvin Perera 3/21) 

 Royal collapse against Trinity at Asgiriya  

Scores:

Royal 114 all out in 46 overs (Bulan Weeratunga 21n.o.; Dinuka Tennakoon 3/29, Tharana Wimaladarma 3/21)

Trinity

195 all out in 53 overs (Rahal Amarasinghe 21, Lakwin Abeysinghe 44, Vathila Udara 28, Jayavi Liyanagama 29, Dinuka Tennakoon 24; Ranuka Malaviarachchi 5/21, Ramiru Perera 2/49)