Nethsara, Kevin shine as Isipatana win   

Under 19 Division I Cricket  

by Reemus Fernando 

Tharusha Nethsara scored a century and right arm paceman Kevin Ranger grabbed six wickets as Isipatana recorded a convincing 140 runs victory over St. Servatius’ to lead Group ‘Y’ of the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘B’ cricket tournament.  While Nalanda and Richmond maintained their unbeaten status in the Tier ‘A’ tournament yesterday, Patana’s victory helped them continue the fight to maintain the top position in their group.

With Lumbini and Devapathiraja having two more matches, an exciting climax is expected in Group ‘Y’ of the Tier ‘B’ tournament. Patana have concluded four out of their five matches and have three victories against their name.

Nethsara and Naveen Kanishka were the architects of yesterday’s victory at Colts Ground as they provided a strong first wicket stand for them to post 295 runs. Nethsara’s 115 came in 88 balls as he hammered 14 fours and four sixes and the duo put on 169 runs for the first wicket.

In their essay St. Servatius’ lost wickets at regular intervals as Kevin Ranger produced his best figures.

At Reid Avenue, Raveen de Silva and Dineth Samaraweera picked up three wickets each to help Nalanda pull off an exciting 23 runs win over Royal. It was Nalanda’s fourth consecutive victory.

The victories by Nalanda and Richmond ensure an intense battle for the top position in group ‘Y’ of Tier ‘A’. The match between these two teams is likely to decide the champions of that group as both have remained unbeaten.

Malsha Tharupathi with the ball and Tharinda Nirmal with the bat were the top performers for Richmond as they beat St. Anne’s by five wickets in the match played at Campbell Place.

Meanwhile, St. Joseph’s posted 404 for five wickets declared in their traditional Under 19 match against Wesley at Darley Road as Sadeesh Jayawardena top scored with 106 runs.

Match Results

Nethsara, Kevin shine as Patana win at Colts

Scores:

Isipatana

295 all out in 50 overs (Tharusha Nethsara 115, Naveen Kanishka 46, Randunu Ganganath 64, Thinula Liyanage 30; Kushan Wijerama 4/28, Deneth Kawya 2/21) 

St. Servatius’

155 all out in 40 overs (Diniru Abeywickramasinghe 74, Chirath Neththaru 22; Kevin Ranger 6/21, Sithuka Gunawardana 2/15, Randunu Ganganath 2/22)

Nalanda beat Royal to record fourth win at Reid Avenue

Scores:

Nalanda

235 for 9 in 50 overs (Rusiru Vilochana 20, Yasiru Samarakoon 24, Raveen de Silva 38, Kushmitha Silva 31, Eranga Jayakody 43; Gishan Balasooriya 3/21, Damith Kappagoda 2/40, Sadisha Rajapaksha 2/32) 

Royal

212 all out in 47.2 overs (Sadisha Rajapaksha 67, Dasis Manchanayake 51, Damith Kappagoda 10; Dineth Samaraweera 3/30, Raveen de Silva 3/48) 

Richmond beat St. Anne’s at Campbell Place

Scores:

St. Anne’s

165 for 9 in 50 overs (Pivithu Fernando 63, Manaan Muzammil 36n.o.; Malsha Tharupathi 4/38, Sharon Abhishek 2/21) 

Richmond

166 for 5 in 29 overs (Tharinda Nirmal 53, Janeth Kaushal 28n.o., Malsha Tharupathi 21)