St. Joseph’s, Trinity joint champions after final ends in thrilling tie 

                                  Under 17 Division I Cricket 

by Reemus Fernando  

Both St. Joseph’s and Trinity were made to suffer for below par performances before some spirited counter attacks brought the Inter School Under 17 Division I cricket final to a thrilling climax, a historic tie at the Surrey Village Ground, Maggona on Saturday.

The happy ending was a far cry from the state of affairs the two teams encountered in the middle of their innings. Chasing a target of 199 runs, the team from Darley Road, seemed to have things under control at one stage. But a collapse triggered by Sweath Anurajeewa in the 33rd over saw them patching up from then on and soon the Joes were praying for their last wicket pair to perform a miracle. Last man Oshada Gunasinghe, who had earlier conceded 22 runs in Trinity’s final over joined Dunick Perera to put up a stunning rearguard action, adding 32 runs for the last wicket that brought Joes back to the brink of victory.

They needed eight runs in the final over but Anurajeewa gave away just two runs in the first four balls. Gunasinghe scored a boundary in the fifth ball but could complete only one run after striking Anurajeewa to deep backward square leg in the last ball as Perera was run out attempting the second.  With scores tied on 198 the unbeaten finalists were named joint champions. That was the first time the Under 17 Division I final ended in a tie.

The Joes had scored nearly two third of the target with seven wickets in hand when spinner Sweath Anurajeewa decided to turn things around for Trinity in an eventful 33rd over. Anurajeewa saw Sahan Dabare, who was anchoring their batting, being dropped off his own bowling (not for the first time) before accounting for Rishma Amarasinghe in the second ball of the over. Three balls later, Kaven Pathirana was run out for four runs. From then on, the Joes were relying on Yenula Dewthusa to pull it off. Dewthusa anchored it till the 44th over before being bowled by Jayavi Liyanagama.

Spinner Liyanagama played a key role bowling well controlled spells that tied the Josephian batsmen. He gave away just 19 runs in his ten overs, while Anurajeewa picked up three wickets for 54 runs. Liyanagama was also the top scorer for Trinity after they were put to bat. They had Dimantha Mahavithana and Wathila Udara scoring 30s before Liyanagama came to anchor the late order batting line up. He stroked 48 runs with four fours, while a 16-ball cameo by Kavindu Jayarathne (20 runs) powered them to their eventual total. Jayarathne’s aggressive innings included two sixes. Both were scored against Oshada Gunasinghe who had otherwise maintained economical figures during his first nine overs.

Dewthusa who picked up two wickets ended up as the leading spinner of the tournament and the second highest wicket taker behind Gurukula speedster Tharusha Kodikara. Kaven Pathirana was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets. Pathirana completed the tournament as the third highest wicket taker.