Bandarawela trounce Guruthalawa to clinch annual Uva Thomians’cricket encounter
The Annual Uva Thomian Cricket Encounter was held on March 2 at the Bandarawela Esplanade, which began at around 9: 00 a. m. The Chief Guest was former Sri Lankan Cricketer Aruna Gunawardane, while the Guest of Honour was the Mayor of Bandarawela Chaminda Wijesiri.
S. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela was led by Nihanga Liyanage. Batting first they scored a challenging 267 in 46.5 overs with a half century by Shafrid Iqbal ( 75). Together with his captain Liyanage, they had a 3rd wicket partnership of 99 which was the backbone of their innings.
Among the Guruthalawa Thomian bowlers, captain Heshan Dikkumbura captured 5/ 53 and was ably supported by Lakmal and Edirisinghe who both captured 2 wickets a piece.
In reply, the Guruthalawa Thomians started their innings quite aggressively, but losing wickets at regular intervals didn’t help their cause as they were eventually bundled out for 93 in exactly 23 overs with Miuru Shalinda causing the damage with 5/ 9 in 5 overs which incidentally is a record in this fixture.
The Best Batsman’s award went out to Shafrid Iqbal ( STCB) while the Best Bowler was Miuru Shalinda ( STCB). W. A. M. M. Silva ( STCG) was adjudged the Best Fielder. The Man of the Match was Bandarawela Thomian skipper Nihanga Liyanage for an excellent all- round performance and effective captaincy.
This event was sponsored by Allianz Insurance Lanka Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of Allianz S. E. of Germany.
The chief guest of the event was former Sri Lankan Cricketer Aruna Gunawardane. He presented the S. L. A. Ratnayake Memorial Challenge Trophy to the captain Nihanga Liyanage of S. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela. The award for the best fielder went to W. A. M. M. Silva of S. Thomas’ College, Gurutalawa.
The award for the best batsman was won by Shafrid Iqbal of S. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela. Udayajeewa Wimalasiri of Allianz Insurance presented the award for the man- of- the- match to Nihanga Liyanage of S. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela.