by Chris Dhambarage
A chanceless century (129 n.o.) by Sri Lanka youth cap Malintha Gajanayake helped D. S. Senanayake declare their first innings at 219 for 5 on the opening day of their 7th annual cricket encounter against St. Benedict's College which began at the R. Premadasa Stadium, yesterday.
Gajanayake who came into bat at the fall of the first wicket in the very first over of the innings put up a determined performance and eventually carried his side towards absolute safety. He concentrated more in occupying the crease and led a tremendous recovery after they were put into bat by the Benedictines.
In fact D. S. Senanayake had a shock start to their innings losing Muditha Maduwantha without a run on the board. They were up against some real hostile bowling from Pradeep Hewage who exploited the conditions to good effect. However Malintha Gajanayake settled down to play a responsible innings and eventually carried his bat until the end. Gajanayake and vice captain Shashi Lafir repaired the early damage with a second wicket stand of 71 runs. The latter played a good supporting role and collected his runs with the help of three boundaries.
But the best batting display came when skipper Dushantha Amaraweera joined Gajanayake with the pair adding 128 runs for the fifth wicket in almost even time. The pair batted more aggressively during the second session and collected a total of 128 runs during this period. Gajanayake occupied the crease for 224 minutes and struck 14 boundaries.
In reply St. Benedict's too got off to a disappointing start losing their star batsman Pradeep Hewage cheaply. But Dinesh Silva and Rolly Tissera made good contributions and they finished the day at 72 for 3.
Day 2: Time robs 'D.S.' of win
By Leslie Fernando
TIME robbed D. S. Senanayake College of the first ever win in the series against St. Benedict's College in the 7th annual cricket encounter at R. Premadasa Stadium at Khettarama yesterday.
Set a victory target of 190 in 30 overs, the Benedictines were placed in a precarious position - 73 for 8 at close. So D. S. Senanayake took major honours in the drawn big match.
Bens, begining the day at 72 for 3, declared at 11.50 at 186 for 6 with Calvin Perera top scoring with a defiant 54 with 10 fours. The overnight pair Calvin and Joel Saverymuthupulle gave Bens a firm base with a 85-run stand for the 4th wicket. Susith Silva hit quick 37 which included 7 fours. Duminda Perera and Namal Abeywickrema had two wickets a piece.
D. S. Senanayake, batting a second time, declared at 156 for 7 with a lead of 189 runs. Once again, it was left to the first innings centurion Malintha Gajanayake to give yet another splendid batting performance, scoring a polished 77 with 10 fours. Malintha and Muditha Maduwanthu (30 with 4 fours) put on 75 runs for the second wicket. Spinners Dinesh de Silva 4 for 44 and Shahane Perera 3 for 66 bowled extremely well for Bens.
The Benedictines were in all sort of trouble in their second innings. It was a bad collapse. All the top batsmen Dinesh, Hewage, Calvin and Joel dismissed for low scores and they were all at sea against good bowling by Duminda Perera, Anjana Danasuriya and Namal Abeywickrema, who shared six wickets.
Only opener Rally Tissera offered some resistance. He carried off the bat for a courageous unbeaten 35 which included 6 fours.
The awards went to - Man of the Match: Malintha Gajanayake (D. S. Senanayake), Best Batsman - Dushantha Amaraweera (D. S. Senanayake), Calvin Perera (St. Benedicts), Best Bowler Duminda Perera (D. S. Senanayake), Dinesh de Silva (St. Benedicts), Best Fielder - Sashi Lafir (D. S. Senanayake), Rally Tissera (St. Benedicts).