Trinity, Richmond, St Peter’s, St Sylvester’s clash for final berth
The Under 19 inter-school cricket season which began in late September last year is almost at the tail end. So for some schools it has been a long journey having played the league matches followed by the traditional big matches and then the limited over matches (traditional and tournament).
It’s no doubt going to be a big sense of relief for the young schoolboy cricketers when the curtain of the school cricket season comes down after the final tournament the inter-schools T20 is completed this weekend.
Four teams Trinity, Richmond, St Peter’s and St Sylvester’s will fight out to battle in the two semi finals of the Under 19 inter-schools T20 cricket tournament at the CCC ground to book a berth for the final showdown scheduled to be played on April 8 at the same venue.
Trinity who are the defending champions will go all out to make it to the final for the second successive year having beaten St Joseph’s in the final last year and adding another trophy to their cupboard.
Trinity who has so far succeeded in coming out on top in the Under 19 league and limited over tournaments will no doubt be looking forward to add the third title and become the first school to win the triple.
They will play in the first semi fi- nal against Richmond due to be played in the morning session. In the run up to the semi final Trinity recorded wins over Wesley and then beat St Benedict’s in the quarter final. Richmond on the other hand overcame St Anthony’s Katugastota and then got the better of De Mazenod whom they outclassed with ease.
But in a game of this nature there is no such team as favourites as this is a pinch hitting game where a team who takes first lease of the wicket and makes a challenging score has the advantage of pulling off a victory.
Nevertheless the two teams possess good allrounders who are capable of guiding their respective sides. The wicket at the CCC is a bit tricky and as mentioned before the team that bats first should have the edge.
Trinity have in their ranks Niroshan Dickwella, Janishka Premasinghe who put a match wining knock in the limited over final against Dharmasoka MV last week, Akila Jayasundara, Ron Chandragupta, Rajitha Jayatunga, Alwin Fernando, Amrith Srimahan and Heshan Wickramaarchchi to deliver the goods in both the batting and bowling department.
Richmond will be looking forward to the services of experience players like Pabasara Waduge, Sithara Gimhana, Hasitha Madushan, A.K. Tyrone, Prabath Nishantha, Kelum Shehara and Kasun Chamara to shine if they are to make any impression.
The second semi final slotted to be played in the second session is between St Peter’s and St Sylvester’s. According to the form of the two teams the scale is in favour of St Peter’s who has a strong outfit.
St Peter’s in the run up to the semi finals recorded wins over Maliyadeva and Dharmasoka MV in the quarter final against whom they recorded a formidable score of 213.
St Sylvester’s qualified to the semi finals with wins over Thurstan and Zahira in the quarter final and it’s left to be seen how they are going to brush off the challenge of the Peterites.
St Peter’s have in their ranks a host of experience players who are capable of making big contributions in the caliber of Shehan Fernando, Shahsheen Fernando, Lahiru Milantha who slammed a 52 in just 23 balls in the quarter final match against Dharmasoka MV, Ranitha Liyanaarachchi, Kavinda de Tissera, Julian de Zylva and Ali Khan.
St Sylvester’s will be hoping for match winning contributions in the batting and bowling department from Indunil Samarananda, Waruna Wijesinghe, Harsha Madushan, Faiz Ahamed, Sumeda Dassanayake, Ruwantha Ekanayake, Dushan Malalasena and Dhanuja Hettiarachchi to reach their first ever final in a major inter-school cricket tournament.