Uvindu fifty leads Royal reply amidst poor weather

An unbeaten 62 from Uvindu Weerasekara had Royal College end the weather-affected second day of the 143rd Battle of the Blues on 136 for 4, in response to S. Thomas’ College’s first innings total of 242.

Weerasekara walked in with the Royalists in a spot of bother after Kavindu Dias had claimed two early wickets with the new ball, including the big wicket of Sadisha Rajapaksa, caught-behind.

He put on 58 at a healthy run-rate for the third-wicket with opener Sineth Jayawardena, and despite the latter falling to Janindu Abeygunawardena for 32, Weerasekara kept the scoreboard ticking over; eventually ending the day 62 not out off 95 balls in the company of number six batsman Ramiru Perera.

Earlier, S. Thomas’ College could only add 35 runs to their overnight total, as they were dismissed for 242 an hour into the day’s play.

Charuka Peiris (51) was trapped in front of his stumps by fast-bowler Sandesh Ramanayake to begin the day, and while the other overnight batter, Mahith Perera, made his way to 33, the Royalists were able to clean up the rest of the Thomian tail without much difficulty.

Royal College skipper Gishan Balasooriya, who claimed the final breakthrough, ended with figures of 3 for 56 off 31.2 overs. He displayed admirable discipline with his lines and lengths, which kept the innings run-rate constantly in check.

On day two, just 53.2 overs of play were possible after the start of play was delayed by rain, and the third session was cut short due to bad light.

With the elements having wiped out the equivalent of a session of play and only 14 wickets lost across the match so far, a draw appears to be on the cards unless either of the sides can make a major breakthrough in the morning session on Saturday.