A limited over cricket match between Singha SC Sydney Australia and a Combined Horana team will be played on February 7 at the public stadium, Horana. The match organised by Old Sri Palians SC will be sponsored by Seylan Bank Horana.
Weragoda match bag of 10 for 67
By S. M. Jiffey Abdeen, Kandy south group correspondent
Fine bowling by former Rajan left-arm spinner who captured a match bag of 10 for 67 (4 for 31 and 6 for 36) bowled Kandy Cricket Club to their first outright win for the season when they beat Matugama Cricket Club by an innings and 81 runs in their Segment 'B' of P. Sara Trophy cricket tournament match concluded at Peradeniya on Sunday.
Priyantha Weragoda returned to the side after a long lay off and displayed that he has not lost any of his venom and guile including his secret weapon of the unplayable slower ball.
Earlier skipper Krishantha Gunawardena saved the side with a brilliant knock of 122 with 9 fours and this laid the foundation for this victory.
Matugama CC 167 all out (A. Kulatillake 45, S. Samarasinghe 19, S. Weerasiri 5 for 33, Priyantha Weragoda 4 for 31) and 93 all out (A. Maddummage 18, K. Kumara 18, Priyantha Weragoda 6 for 36, Upali Kodituwakku 3 for 29).
Kandy CC 341 all out (K. Gunawardena 122, S. Weerasiri 22, H. Basnayake 35, U. Kodituwakku 32, N. Jayatillake 56 n.o., A. Kulatillake 5 for 40, N. Withana 5 for 88).
SSC Veterans vs Lanka Lions on February 10
The SSC Veterans will take on the visiting Lanka Lions team on February 10 (Poya Day), at the Maitland Place.
Lanka Lions is led by Prasanna Kariyawasam who captained Royal College in 1975. He will have the services of young cricketers who had their primary education in Sri Lankan schools. The team has already toured Kurunegala, Kandy, Badulla and Matara. They are also scheduled to play the Old Royalists Cricket Club on February 15 at the Royal College grounds.
The SSC Veterans team comprises Ranjan Samarasinghe (Captain), Prabodha Kariyawasam, Mac de Silva, Michael de Zoysa, Ajith Peiris, Ajith Abeygunawardane, Mohan de Silva (Wicket Keeper), Daya Wickramaratne, Mano Ponnaih, Ranil Abeynaike and Mohan Jayasekara.
Hong Kong Bank cricketers India-bound
The Hong Kong Bank cricket team will make a short tour to India from February 6 to 9 and will play two limited over matches against their Indian counterparts.
The team will be captained by Ajith Pasqual while Sarath Weerakoon will be his deputy. The rest of the members are Senarath Seneviratne, Mahesh Jayasekera, Johnny Martin, Manoj Algama, Nimalka Perera, Naresh Adikaram, Harsha Perera, Yasas Dharmaratne, Dilshan Bandaranayake, Indika Bandaranayake, Kelum Edirisinghe, Sudham Fernando.
The officials are R.J.D.Law (CEO Sri Lanka), Jehaan Ismail and Peter Manuel.
Softball cricket
The first anniversary softball cricket tournament organised by the Young Men's Association will be held on February 6, 7 and 8 at the Sri Dhamma Mawatha playgrounds.
The champions will receive the Ramazan trophy and a cash award of Rs.10,000. The runners up will receive the Zaviat trophy and a cash award of Rs.5000. The best batsman will receive a cash award of Rs.500 and the best bowler will receive a cash award of Rs.500.
Champika 5/25 for the Cambrians
Badulla sports correspondent
Five wickets for 25 runs by C. Champika enabled Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa to gain first innings points over St. Thomas' College, Bandarawela, in their Coca-Cola under-19 cricket encounter played on the Badulla Esplanade.
Time deprived Prince of Wales of an outright victory in this encounter. Prince of Wales batting first scored 148 runs with Rashan Pieris top scoring with 54 runs. In reply STC were all out for 116 runs. O. L. M. Rishard top scored with 39 runs.
Batting for the second time, Prince of Wales scored 158 runs and once again Rashan Pieris was the top scorer with 71 runs to his credit. Charitha Sandanayake took 7 wicket for 46 runs. At close of play STC were 64 for 4.
Prince of Wales 148 (S. Shammika 16, Rashan Pieris 54, A. Dumila 24, J. Liyanage 20, Rasika Jayasinghe 4 for 28) and 158 (Rashan Pieris 71, S. Prabath 36, Charitha Sandanayake 7 for 46, O. L. M. Rishard 2 for 40).
St. Thomas' College, Bandarawela 116 (O. L. M. Rishard 39, Vipula Dissanayake 18, Rasika Jayasinghe 11, C. Champika 5 for 25, Dumila 2 for 42) and 64 for 4 (A. Rajan 16 n.o., Vipula Dissanayake 15).
Great victory by the Peterites
A seventh win for the season ... that's what St. Peter's College, Bambalapitiya, achieved when they demolished the Cambrians by five wickets. This is a great achievement by any standard.
The role of leadership is more significant in cricket than in any other sport. The captain must know how to deploy whatever skill his players have at their disposal. It is a requirement of a captain not to panic in a situation. The captain must have the ability as a player as well. Young Malintha Warnapura must be congratulated in leading the high-riding Peterites to great success.
He restricted Prince of Wales to less than 175 in both innings, and after a slender lead of 14 runs in the first innings, achieved their target in 28 overs scoring 161 for 5 wickets. Warnapura after capturing 4 wickets for 52 runs in the second innings remained unbeaten with 44 runs. Young Warnapura looks champion material for the future.
St. Peter's College have produced some of the finest cricketers in the years gone by. If my memory serves right, Dion Wallace was one of the greatest Peterite captains. Anton Perera and his brother Maurice, a live-wire at St. Peter's are two of finest cricketers produced by St. Peter's and the University of Ceylon. Anton and Maurice led the University with distinction. Dr. H. I. K. Fernando is undoubtedly one of the best wicket-keepers that Asia produced. Roy Dias that batting artist, fiery Rumesh Ratnayake, Vinodhan John, wicket-keeper opening bat Amal Silva who lighted the Lord's with a fine century in 1985 and presently Russel Arnold are some of the Peterites who have done yeoman service towards the uplift of cricket in Sri Lanka.
One of the beauties of cricket, especially at school level, is the unpredictability of their personal performance. Undoubtedly, cricket is the greatest team game. Yet, it is intensely personal at the same time. Batting is 75 per cent skill and technique, 25 per cent confidence, application and guts. Walk to the wicket in a stylish manner. Don't move in a lazy way. No schoolboy cricketer should walk up to the wicket with an inferiority complex. Be smart, you must always look like a cricketer.
An important thing that you must always remember is to play within your limitations. Stick to the right ball to drive. I have seen the downfall of many batsmen trying to drive balls outside the range of their physical capabilities. When batting, bowling or fielding always keep your eye on the ball.
Your backlift is the foundation of most of the shots and therefore it is essential that it is correct. Stance is very vital. You should be sufficiently relaxed and weight evenly distributed so that you can go on either the front or back foot without difficulty.
School cricketers should always remember it is very essential to keep the bat and pad together. Don't be hasty. Have a good look at the bowling. Attune yourself to the pace of the wicket and watch carefully for the movement of the ball. Don't play any risky and fancy shots. This is good advice at the start of an inning.
While St. Peter's are on a winning spree their arch rivals St. Joseph's College recorded a 10-wicket win over Joseph Vaz, Wennappuwa. The architect of this victory was Josephian skipper Monto Perera who returned fine figures of 15-4-31-3. Kamal Ranjan (46) batted well for the Wennappuwa team.
Tall scoring was the order of the day at Campbell Park in the drawn game between S. Thomas' College MTL-Wesley. 667 runs were scored by both teams and only 21 wickets fell on the two days.
The highlight of this drawn game were the two centuries recorded by Wesleyites Dharshika Jayakody (125) and Indika Ranasinghe (100).
An unbeaten 157 by benedictine D. Silva helped them to gain major honours in their drawn game against St. Anthony's Wattala concluded at Wattala. R. Munasinghe (67) and R. Tissera (43) batted well for the Benedictines and for Antonians S. Ranjan (53) and S. Lasantha (49) shone.