St. Peter’s College secured first innings points in their season opener of the Singer U19 Division I Cricket tournament against St. Aloysius’ College at St Peters College Grounds.
Navindu Nirmal’s hard fought 62 saved St. Aloysius from the jaws of an innings defeat after being asked to follow on in the second innings. St. Aloysius came in to bat with a deficit of 130 runs in the second innings and were struggling at 3 for 26 in the second session of day 2. Miflal Ameen was brilliant with new ball and he caused all sorts of problems for the top order batsmen. Ravindu Sanjaya and Ashen Bandara fought back but Ravindu yet again failed to capitalize on the start he got when he was run out smartly by Sachin Silva
The experienced pair of Ashen Bandara and Skipper Navindu Nirmal got together and put on 30 more runs before Bandara was run out due to a miscommunication between the two U19 national caps. Nirmal was left with the tail and he managed to guide the rest of the batters, who played their part around him.
Photo Album: St.Peters College v St.Aloysius’ College U19 Schools Cricket – Day 2
In the bowling department for the Petetrites, Miflal Ameen finished with figures of 4 for 68 while Chathura Obeysekara took 1 for 30. St. Aloysius managed to save the match, scoring 157/8 at close of play.
Early on in the day, St. Aloysius resumed day two on 24 for 1, 241 runs behind St. Peter’s 1st innings total of 265. The two Peterite seamers kept the pressure on the batsmen and they were rewarded with wickets. Skipper Nirmal and Kavindu consolidated in the middle overs but Kavindu’s dismissal led to a collapse. Miflal Ameen used his height and variations to bamboozle batters. He ended up with figures of 3 for 27 while the pick of the bowlers, Santhush Gunatilake, bagged 3 for just 26 runs.
St Peter’s College 1st innings 265 for 9d in 87 overs
Lakshina Rodrigo 75, Ranmith Jayasena 51, Manelkar De Silva 49, Ashen Bandara 3/31, Hareen Biddula 2/93, Niluksha Dulmina 2/16
St. Aloysius’ College 1st Innings 135 all out in 65.5 overs
Navindu Nirmal 28, Santhush Gunatilake 3/26, Miflal Ameen 3/27, Manelka De Silva 2/27, Sachin Silva 2/13.
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St. Aloysius’ College (2nd inn) – 157 for 8 in 50 overs
Navindu Nirmal 62, Ashen Bandara 33, Ameen Miflal 4/68, Chathura Obeysekara 1/30
