Royal record morale boosting victory after two defeats

by Reemus Fernando

Royal registered a historic victory against St. Peter’s as Sineth Jayawardena with a match bag of eight wickets and Isula Geeganage and Yasindu Dissanayake with centuries excelled for the winners in the Under 19 traditional cricket encounter at Reid Avenue on Saturday.

It was Royal’s first victory in 38 years against St. Peter’s and is a morale boosting one after conceding two defeats at the hands of Maris Stella and Prince of Wales within weeks.

The back-to-back defeats had severely dented Royal’s hopes of securing a top position in the points table in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ tournament.The victory in the weekend has come in a traditional match. That will not change their fortunes in the tournament but will boost their confidence.

Scores

Royal 364 for 5 decl. in 99 overs (Isula Geeganage 122, Yasindu Dissanayake 152n.o; Lashen Pushpakumarage 3/35 Dilana Damsara 2/34)

St. Peter’s 6 for 1 overnight 190 in 59.5 overs (Asadisa de Silva 77, Savi Fernando 21, Rithil Suraweera 21; Sineth Jayawardena 6/53, Yenula Bandara 2/11) and 113 all out in 44.3 overs (Asadisa de Silva 34, Shennon Rodrigo 31; Yenula Bandara 4/16, Sineth Jayawardena 2/21, Ramiru Perera 3/38)