S. THOMAS’ PREP FINISHES SEASON WITH A FLOURISH
S. Thomas’ Preparatory School and Vidyaloka College Galle met in the finals of the Division II Under-13 cricket tournament for the Singer Challenge Cup on February 12 in Hikkaduwa. Vidyaloka beat S. Thomas’ Prep even though this was the first time they came into the finals whereas Prep School came into the finals after 37 years. The Prepites won the toss and elected to bat and in a hard fought game they put up a respectable score of 110 for nine wickets and decided to declare their first innings. Vidyaloka were consistent despite a breakthrough coming in at 21 runs with the middle order going on a run spree with many boundaries. The Prep bowlers were persistent and made the opponents nervous, but the run onslaught tired the Prep fielders which proved to be their undoing.
Vidyaloka College went on to win the match with only four wickets lost with the extras which kept on piling up in favour of the Vidyaloka team.
The Prep Under-13 team was consistent and grew in all departments to put up an unbeaten performance throughout the season right up to the finals. They have done the school proud while proving beyond a doubt that they were a force to be reckoned with as they have made their way into Division I beginning with the next season.
With 10 wins and three drawn games to their credit and playing a considerable number of practice and friendly games it certainly was a lot of cricket for a very young team that surprised their opponents from day one in the tournament.
Lishan de Silva who captained the team in 2018 made a tremendous contribution with the bat – he kept wickets and was a strong influence on the team. Lian Thirimanne who received the mantle from him this year continued to build the team to bring it to the finals and contributed with both the bat and ball together with Thisen Eheliagoda, who over the years has developed as a promising sportsman while Yatindra Siriwardena a very stylish bowler, did considerable damage to the opposing teams and Ramitha Ellawela an all rounder, was a very sensible bat.
Contributing in no small measure to the success of the team were Oshadha Weerasekara, Ayman Anzari, Yowel Warnakulasuriya and Benver Benjamin who have been in the team for the past two years and maturing along with the senior players. New comers Aaron de Silva, Saveen Kodagoda and Neresh Ranjithkumar made their mark with important contributions.
Rev. Fr. Dushantha Rodrigo appreciates the input of Pelham Juriansz in contributing this article