Taneesha claims six, Joes in trouble
82nd Battle of the Saints
Right arm spinner Taneesha Weerakoon wrecked St. Joseph’s batting with a six wicket haul to send them reeling to a score of 106 as their arch-rivals St. Peter’s took control at the end of the first day’s in their 82nd Battle of the Saints big match played at P. Sara Stadium yesterday.
It was a pathetic batting performance by the Josephians after they lost their first wicket with just 15 runs on the board. From there on they lost wickets at regular intervals and were struggling at 79 for 5 at one stage.
Nipun Samarasinghe was the only batsman to put in some resistance making 25. The late order batting succumbed to Taneesha with three batsmen being dismissed for ducks. However the last pair rescued them to make a score of 106.
Earlier in the day St. Peter’s invited to take first lease of the wicket were given a sedate start of 36 runs by openers Imesh Fernando and Anisha Perera. Hashan Wanasekera who made 56 along with Lakshina Rodrigo put on a valuable 65 runs for the third wicket.
They underwent a setback as they lost a quick wicket before Ranmith Jayasena and Manelka de Silva frustrated the Josephians bowlers as they went to lunch without a hiccup on 170 for 4.
The post lunch session saw the pair further frustrating the Josephian bowlers as they posted a 100-run partnership for the fifth wicket. They were separated eight runs later with the dismissal of Manelka who made a valuable contribution of 71 which had seven boundaries and three sixes.
At that stage the Peterites were sitting pretty on 239 for 5 in the 48th over and were left with another 12 overs of batting. The Peterites added a further 65 runs with Ranmith in the process making 56 which included six boundaries, for them to end their 60 overs of batting with a formidable score of 304 for 9.
The Josphians made to follow on and left with a daunting task of erasing a deficit of 198 runs ended the day on 28 for no loss and now they need a further 170 runs to avoid an innings defeat when play begins on day two today.