Royal rub fresh layer of salt to already battered Thomians
Riding high on their victory at the 134th Battle of the Blues, Royal rubbed a fresh layer of salt onto the wounds of the battered Thomians as they romped to a dominant 88-runs victory over their traditional rivals, to claim the 38th one day match for the Mustang’s Trophy, at the SSC grounds yesterday.
The cornerstone of Royal’s conquest was a stunning knock of 116 off 115 balls by Hashen Ramanayake, which helped to thrust his team’s total to a staggering 330-7 (the highest innings score ever recorded at a Mustang’s clash) after the Royalists were put into bat by S. Thomas’. The Thomians, although putting up a valiant fight, constantly battled the pressure of the mammoth total, and in
(Hashen Ramanayake 116, Roanaka Ahangamage 48, Sampath de Silva 47, Heshan Kumarasiri 43, Milan Abeysekara 24; Helakamal Nanayakkara 3 for 61, Ravindu Tillakaratne 2 for 41)
(Devin Jayasinghe 99, Sachitha Jayatilleka 58, Nipuna Gamage 32; Chamika Karunaratne 4 for 38, Harith Samarasinghe 2 for 51) the end fell well short of the target at 242-8 in their allotted 50 overs.
Ramanayake’s spectacular innings, which featured 7 fours and 4 sixes, also cracked the individual scoring record at the annual encounter. Once again the boys from Reid Avenue were aided by their Big Match hero, Chamika Karunaratne, who cannoned through the Thomians like scattered bowling pins to top the bowling with figures of 4 for 38 in his 10 overs.
For S. Thomas’, once again it was the monumental heart of burly all-rounder Devin Jayasinghe that kept the Thomian flags flying high, as he orchestrated a brutal onslaught of 99 runs off 103 balls, lambasting the Royalists to all corners of the ground with 7 fours and 4 towering sixes. However, he received little help from his peers, except for swashbuckling freshman Sachitha Jayatilleka, who replicated Jaysinghe’s aggression in a 64-ball 58, embellished with an incredible 5 sixes and a single four. The result though was well beyond doubt by the time the Thomian innings reached the 40th over, and the remainder of the game was just an exercise in counting down time until the final celebrations.