Vishmi shines as Rathnavali Balika clinch Under 19 girls’ cricket title

Vishmi Gunaratne scored an unbeaten century to set the stage for Rathnavali Balika Vidyalaya to clinch the Inter School Under 19 girls’ cricket title as the team from Gampaha beat Anula Vidyalaya, Nugegoda by 66 runs in the tournament final played at Bloomfield ground on Monday.

Chasing a target of 200 runs to win, the girls from Nugegoda could muster only 133 runs as Vidusika Perera and Nipuni Navodya did most of the damage sharing five wickets between them.

Vishmi Gunaratne lived up to her reputation as the highest scorer of the tournament when she amassed an unbeaten 125 runs in 92 balls for her team to post 199 runs in their allotted 30 overs.

They lost their first wicket for eight runs when Imalshi Yasara had Hashini Wijesingha bowled for just one run. They encountered further trouble when Himasha Perera had Nikesha Wijesekara caught by Kaushini Nuthyanga for two runs. But Gunaratne anchored the batting line up with the same authority she had exhibited throughout the tournament. She was ably supported by Sandali Weerasinghe who joined her for a valuable third wicket stand of 66 runs. Later the skipper was joined by Vidushika Perera for a 74-run stand, in which Perera’s contribution was 16 runs.

In her unbeaten knock Gunaratne scored 15 fours and two sixes.

In their essay Anula Vidyalaya had a promising start as they reached 100 runs for the loss of four wickets but their hopes of a victory withered with a flurry of wickets in the last nine overs, They lost their last five wickets for the addition of 33 runs.