UNDER 15 DIVISION 1 CRICKET – ANTONIANS ARE JOINT CHAMPIONS
From Afzal Laphir
We became joint champions at the recently concluded Under-15 Division 1 tournament as a result of the final against Nalanda College ending in a no-decision. The Antonians batting first in the rain-affected game at Thurstan College grounds in Colombo, reached 117 for 4 wickets before declaring. Yohan Senanayake top scored with 41 and Sanuka Kalpana remaining unbeaten on 32, Nalanda in response finished at 13/1. For more details read https://island.lk/st-
It is pleasing to see the emergence of yet another strong Antonian junior side which ensures our foundations are strong and stable. Credit should go to the coaching staff and those close to our cricket for this success, for being able to nurture these players during two disruptive years when very little junior cricket was played.
This was the second occasion in the last four years that the Antonian Under-15 side had emerged as joint champions of the Division 1 tournament. In 2019, under the captaincy of Lahiru Abeysinghe, we were deprived of being outright champions when the final against St Joseph Vaz College was called off early due to bad light. We restricted the opponents to 35/3 in 28 overs after declared our first innings at 166/5 (45 overs) with Lahiru making 63. In addition to the successes of our Under-15 side, our Under-13 (2018) and Under-17 (2017) sides reached the finals in their respective Division 1 tournaments, to showcase the strength of our junior cricket over the past few years.
Despite difficult personal circumstances this year, coach Susantha Basnayake has done tremendously well to keep our boys motivated through a tight schedule. We played our six group games over a five-week period and a further four knock-out games until today’s finals. Our boys adopted a positive approach throughout the group stages, helping us to win a game outright which is not an easy task when total overs are limited to 100 overs. In this game against St Anne’s, we declared our first innings after only 16.5 overs, scoring at over 10 runs per over to reach 168/5 and dismissed them for 71 and 81 in a total of 75 overs.
Another impressive feature of this team is the widespread contribution from multiple players. Our batting revolves around the left-handed pair of Sadew Amarakoon and Yohan Senanayake, each scoring a century, but we have five other batsmen who have contributed with at least one half-century in skipper Okitha Fernando, Minon Kemitha, Sanuka Kalpana, Kaushika Kumarasinghe and Ryan Gregory.
In the bowling department, leg-spinner Okitha Fernando (5/19), Kaveesha Samaratunge (5/07) with his slow left-arm orthodox and right-arm pace bowler Kaushika Samarasinghe (5/14) have captured five-fers. These three bowlers have been ably supported by left-arm spinner Ryan Gregory and pace bowlers Tishan Fernando (vice-captain) and Minon Kemitha. The two wicket keepers in the squad are Hasada Sethunge and Dinul Wijesinghe.
The performance of this junior side has further underlined the belief that Antonian cricket is in good hands for many years to come.
OUR ROAD TO THE FINALS: (compiled by Afzal)
Game 1 –vs Vidyartha College Kandy at Katugastota on 29 Jun 2022 – Won on first innings
VCK – 102 all out (42.5 ov) – Okitha Fernando 5/19 and 91/8 (30 ov)
SACK 215/8 dec (28 ov) – Sanuka Kalpana 53, Okitha Fernando 51
Game 2 – vs Maliyadeva College at Katigastota on 8 Jul 2022 – WON on first innings
SACK – 189 all out (44 ov) – Ryan Gregory 31 and 29/0 (1 ov) – Ryan Gregory 28 n.o (6 balls, 4 sixes)
Maliyadeva – 162/9 (55 ov) – Kaveesha Samaratunge 3/20
Game 3 – vs Dharmaraja College Kandy at Katugastota on 16 Jul 2022 – WON on first innings
DCK – 164/8 (55 ov) –
SACK – 186/9 (46 ov) – Yohan Senanayake 47
Game 4 – vs Royal College Polonnaruwa at Polonnaruwa on 26 Jul 2022 – Match Drawn
SACK – 220/9 (30.5 ov) – Sadew Amarakoon 60, Ryan Gregory 64, Minon Kemitha 33
RC – 44/3 (18 ov) – Tishan Fernando 2/10
Game 5 – vs St Anne’s College Kurunegala at Katugastota on 30 Jul 2022 – Won by an innings and 16 runs
St Annes – 71 all out (35 ov) – Kaveesha Samaratunge 5/07 and 81 all out (39.4 ov) – Ryan Gregory 3/12
SACK – 168/5 (16.5 ov) – Sadew Amarakoon 41, Minon Kemitha 32
Game 6 – vs S Thomas Matale at STC Ground Matale on 5 Aug 2022 – Match Drawn
SACK – 217/5 dec (39.4 ov) – Kaushika Kumarasinghe 96, Sanuka Kalpana 52 n.o
STC – 26/4 (11 ov)
Pre-QF Playoff – vs St Anthony’s College Wattala at Katugastota on 17 Aug 2022 – WON on first innings
SACK – 288/4 dec (40.5 ov) – Sadew Amarakoon 136 n.o, Minon Kemitha 74, Kaushika Kumarasinghe 48
SAC Wattala – 190/9 (55 ov) – Okitha Fernando 4/42
Pre-QF – vs Maliyadeva at Kurunegala on 22 Aug 2022 – WON on points
SACK – 250/7 (55 ov) – Yohan Senanayake 103, Okitha Fernando 46
MCK – 142/3 (37 ov) –
QF – vs Gurukula College Kelaniya at Darley Rd, Colombo on 26 Aug 2022 – WON on first innings
SACK – 237 all out (52.4 ov) – Yohan Senanayake 41, Sanuka Kalpana 40, Sadew Amarakoon 35 and 2/0
GCK – 112 all out (40 ov) – Okitha Fernando 4/19
SF – vs S Thomas’ College ML at Campbell Place, Colombo on 3 Sep 2022 – WON on points
STC – 88/8 (34.1 ov) – Kaushika Kumarasinghe 5/14
SACK – 40/3 (14.1 ov)
Cheers
Afzal
