143rd Battle of the Blues

by Reemus Fernando  

\A dramatic batting collapse, a determined sixth wicket stand and a decisive half century by a fresher made an intriguing first day’s play as S. Thomas’ reached 207 for six wickets at stumps against arch rivals Royal at the 143rd Battle of the Blues at the SSC ground on Thursday.

The dramatic post lunch collapse saw Thomians struggling at 84 for five wickets at one stage but Senesh Hettiarachchi and Charuka Peiris managed to steady the ship posting a valuable 94 runs stand for the sixth wicket.  The pair made determined half centuries and were the saviours of the Thomians after their top order battling line up inclusive of Sri Lanka Under 19 player Ryan Fernando failed to deliver.

Put to bat S. Thomas’ reached lunch without losing a wicket after Royal pacemen failed to deliver under overcast conditions. But they had accumulated just 53 runs as Shenadhi Bulankulame, who is the fourth Bulankulame to open Thomian batting and Janindu Abeygunawardhane batted cautiously.

After a lackluster first session of play the match sparked to life three balls after lunch when spinner Ramiru Perera produced a stunning one handed catch off his own bowling to dismiss Abeygunawardhane for 28 runs. Four balls later Dasis Manchanayake accounted for the fellow opener Bulankulame trapping him lbw for 18 runs. Dineth Gunawardena was run out for 12 runs and skipper Gishan Balasooriya then took two quick wickets including the prized wicket of his opposite number Ryan Fernando.

Charuka Peiris and Senesh Hettiarachchi then put on a sensible partnership to survive without being parted until tea. Hettiarachchi was the first to reach 50 runs. He faced 118 balls for his 55 runs which included seven fours. The partnership was broken by Ramiru Perera who caught Hettiarachchi off his own bowling.

But unlike during the post lunch session that dismissal did not trigger a collapse as Mahith Perera   joined debutant Charuka Peiris to reach stumps without suffering further damage. Peiris who had come to the rescue of S. Thomas’ at least on one other occasion this season was unbeaten on 51 runs. He scored five fours and had faced 143 balls and stayed at the wicket for 178 minutes.