Many interruptions due to poor light and rain during the whole match forced the 139th 'Battle of the Blues' annual cricket encounter between Royal and S. Thomas' to end in a draw at the SSC grounds yesterday.
S. Thomas' scored 227 for six in their second innings and declared, leaving Royal a target of 216 runs to get off 48 overs. At stumps they finished on 143 for 6.
Dulith Gunaratne top scored with 59 runs in the Thomian second innings of 227 runs for 6 declared in 61 overs. He faced 139 deliveries and hit eight boundaries. Shalin de Mel also made a useful contribution of 57 runs off 138 deliveries which contained five boundaries. These two who opened the innings put on 107 runs for the first wicket.
Sithara Hapuhinna also made a useful contribution by scoring 47 runs with six boundaries. He was aggressive during his knock to speed up the scoring rate with a declaration in mind.
Royal seemed to be content to keep their wickets intact and not to lose the game. The target of 216 off 48 overs was too much for Royal and despite trying to keep their wickets intact Dellon Peiris bowled well to keep the runs down and take wickets at regular intervals.
However, Kavindu Madarasinghe took his chances and finished with 58 runs with nine boundaries.
Madarasinghe and Thevindu Senarathne put on 56 runs for the sixth wicket to delay the Thomian bid to go for victory.
Dellon Peiris finished with 3 wickets for 50 runs. Kamil Mishara also batted responsibly to score 22 runs.
Player of the match - Kavindu Madarasinghe (Royal)
Best batsman - Dulith Gunarathne (S. Thomas')
Best bowler - Manula Perera (Royal)
Best Fielder - Shalin de Mel (S. Thomas')
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