March 7, 2015. From Algi Wijewickrema reporting from Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Having sent updates from time to time while the match was on yesterday, I don't think there's need for a lengthy summary but here's a short one for the benefit of whoever was not able to receive the updates yesterday.

If the 1st day's honours belonged to St. Peter's then the second day's honours surely belonged to the Joes. In fact I believe that Petes could have won the match had they declared at their overnight score and let the Joes start their 2nd innings with a huge psychological pressure. This is not suggested in hind sight but was suggested to the cricketing powers that be but fell on deaf ears. But I presume that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Be that as it may, the Petes continued to bat on the 2nd day and were bowled out for 268 in 45 minutes for the addition of 53 runs to their overnight score and if there was any saving grace in having continued their batting, Thaneesha Weerakoon the overnight batsman who played the vital support role which allowed Sachin Dalpathado to get a century, got his 50 and was last out on 57. Dalpathado was in fact the first to go when the score was 244, having made 114. The new record for the 8 wicket partnership established was 159 between Sachin Dalpathado (114) and Thaneesha Weerakoon (57).

When the Joes came out to bat the 2nd time, they looked a different side from the 1st innings. Gone were the tentative pushing and prodding by their batsman and gone too was the nervousness at the crease at least among their front line batsmen. The result was that the Joes occupied the crease for 82 overs and made 293 for 8. In the process they had their opening batsman get a valuable 118 and Thaneesha weerakoon bagged 4 wickets in the process to have a memorable match bag of 8 wickets in addition to his invaluable 57 when batting in the Peterite 1st inning.

This left the Peterites 10 overs + the mandatory 15 overs in the last hour to get 193 for victory. An impossible target and one that the Petes never attempted. However the Josephian bowler Hashindra Perera returned figures of 12-2-47-6 as the Petes struggled to a 110 for 7 when stumps were drawn. An entertaining 55 was scored by Dineth Thimodya in the process with several towering sixes that cleared the boundary lines easily. And you could say that the match was an exciting draw with the Joes earning the honours on the 2nd day, though the Petes could say that they had a 1st innings win.

The awards were shared as follows:
Best Fielder – Vinoo Mohotti of St. Peter's
Best Bowler – Hashindra Perera of St. Joseph's
Best Batsman – Sandaruwan Rodrigo of St. Joseph's
Best All Rounder – Thaneesha Weerakoon of St. Peter's
Man of the Match – Sachin Dalpathado of St. Peter's

SCOREBOARD
St Joseph's – 1st innings 167 all out

St Peter's – 1st innings
(overnight 215-7, Sachin Dalpathado 104 n.o, Thaneesha Weerakoon 30 n.o)

Dineth Thimodya c & b Ekanayake                   14
Didulana Medis c Samarasinghe b Ekanayake          04
Hashan Wanasekara b Ekanayake            00
Lakshina Rodrigo st Fonseka b Akurugoda                  02
Chandula Jayamanne c Peiris b S Rodrigo                  36
Sachin Dalpathado c Fonseka b Ekanayake               114
Manelka de Silva c Peiris b Akurugoda           00
Vinu Mohotty c M Rodrigo b Akurugoda           00
Thaneesha Weerakoon st Fonseka b Akurugoda          57
Ashanth Malka run out (Ekanayake)                   05
Randel Seneviratne not out                    00
Extras (all out; 54.1 overs)                            36
TOTAL                                   258

Fall wickets: 1-18, 2-29, 3-36, 4-79, 5-79, 6-79, 7-85, 8-244, 9-258, 10-268
Bowling: Jehan Daniel       4-1-20-0
          Ekanayake     15-1-99-4
          S Rodrigo         4-0-20-0
          Akurugoda   10.1-2-47-4
          M Rodrigo       12-2-37-0
          Perera              4-0-14-0
          De Silva           4-0-19-0
          Sumanasinghe 1-0-12-0

St Joseph's – 2nd innings
Sandaruwan Rodrigo lbw b Malka                 118
Pethum Madusanka st Lakshina b Weerakoon          36
Vimukthi Peiris c Mohotty b Weerakoon           34
Suren de Silva c Mohotty b Weerakoon           06
Hashindra Perera lbw b Weerakoon                   07
Jehan Daniel run out (Malka/L Rodrigo)           18
Aravinda Akurugoda c de Silva b Malka           34
Nipun Sumanasinghe not out                   18
Shevon Fonseka b Jayamanne                   18
Extras (1 lb, 3 nb)                            04
TOTAL (8 wickets dec; 81.3 overs)                       293

Fall of wickets: 1-77, 2-142, 3-166, 4-178, 5-203, 6-236, 7-257, 8-293, Bowling: Seneviratne        4-1-22-0
         M de Silva         4-0-22-0
         Mohotty           28-5-86-0
         Malka              13-1-50-2
         Weerakoon     29-4-100-4
         Dalpathado         3-0-12-0
        Jayamanne         0.3-0-0-1

St Peter's – 2nd innings
Dineth Thimodya st Fonseka b Perera   55
Didulana Medis c Daniel b Perera           11
Lakshina Rodrigo c Daniel b Perera           00
Hashan Wanasekara c Fonseka b Perera          00
Chandula Jayamanna st Fonseka b Perera          12
Sachin Dalpathadu c Ekanayake b Perera          13
Manelka de Silva not out                    18
Vinu Mohotti lbw b M Rodrigo            01
Taneesha Weerakoon not out            00
Extras                       00
TOTAL (7 wickets; 26 overs)                 110

Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-38, 3-48, 4-74, 5-85, 6-100, 7-110.Bowling: Ruchira Ekanayake    3-1-13-0                 Hashindra Perera      12-2-47-6         Malshan Rodrigo        4-1-18-1
         Suren de Silva           2-0-17-0
         Aravinda Akurugoda   5-1-15-0
__._,_.___

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Posted by: Algi Wijewickrema <algi.wijewickrema@gmail.com>