2016/17 Schools Cricket season comes to a close
The Singer Schools Under-19 Limited Overs Tournament came to a close last week with all segments -- the Division I, II and III. Richmond College Galle triumphed over Thurstan College Colombo by 8 wickets to capture the Division I championship as the school from down south became the best team from the rest where a total of 16 teams qualified to play in the knockout tournament beginning from the pre-quarter-final stage.
In the Division II, St. Anne's College Kurunegala beat Sri Devananda College Ambalangoda by 30 runs on Duckworth/ Lewis Method to emerge champions out of a total of 16 teams that played. The Division III tournament had 32 teams competing from the preliminary stage and Ananda Sastralaya Kotte outclassed Sasthrananda Central College by 10 wickets in a low- scoring final.
Division I winners, Richmond Galle, had a cruise throughout their journey to the final which too was a low- scoring affair. They bowled out Thurstan for 141 and raced to victory by reaching 140-2 in 25.3 overs in a game where rain curtailed proceedings. Eventually the Richmondites were declared champions on Duckworth/Lewis Method. Richmond beat Maliyadeva College Kurunegala by 8 wickets in the semi-final after recording a 68-run win against Maris Stella College in the quarter-final. They beat Lumbini Vidyalaya by 58 runs in a yet another low- scoring game.
St. Anne's Kurunegala, the Division II winners batted first in the final and posted 248 runs and then bowled out Sri Devananda for 163, who should have reached 193 runs in 31.1 overs when they were shot out. The winners overcame St. Sebastian's College Katuneriya by 115 runs in the semi-final after beating St. John's College Panadura by 70 runs in the quarter-final. In the pre- quarter-final game against Siri Piyarathana Vidyalaya Padukka, the Annites recorded an easy 115-run win.
In the Division III final, Ananda Sastralaya Kotte had the honour of bowling out Sasthrananda Central for 78 runs and race to victory without losing a single wicket in eight overs. In the semi-final they beat Piliyandala Central by 3 wickets and beat Rajasinghe MMV by 5 wickets in the quarter-final. They overcame St. John's College Nugegoda by 2 wickets in the pre- quarter-final after thrashing Ananda Maithree MMV Balangoda by 7 wickets in the preliminary round.
Losing finalists Sasthrananda Central too had a good run up to the final. They trhashed Asoka Vidyalaya by 122 runs in the semi-final, after beating Vidyaloka College Galle by 98 runs in the quarter-final and beat Bandaranayake Central Veyangoda by the similar margin in the pre- quarter-final. However in the preliminary round, which was a low- scoring one, against St. Michael's College Batticaloa, Sasthrananda recorded a thrilling 6-run win where scores were 127 and 121. The tournament was organised and conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association. The statistics and scorecards were updated and maintained by Batsman.com.