Maris Stella College, Thimbirigaskatuwa (Negombo) who are newcomers to the Schools under-19 Division III cricket tournament made a superb start recording four outright victories and qualifying for the second round.
They defeated Wickramashela MMV by 34 runs, DS Senanayake College Mirigama by an innings and 133 runs, Sri Rajasinghe by seven wickets and Sripathi MV by an innings and 60 runs.
Pasindu Prabashara played a major role for the Maristonians in the victories capturing 20 wickets and scoring 121 runs. The other mainstay for them was the centurion Kasun Nirmal (151) who also did well with the ball capturing 13 wickets.
Meanwhile, Savindu Perera too helped his side being the top scorer with a total of 151 runs and capturing 11 wickets. Kanishka Hasith was the other bowler who had 11 wickets to his name who also performed well with the bat scoring 94 runs for Maristonians.
All these players were under the guidance of former under-19 national player Mevan Fernando who has returned to the island after a four year stint in Australia playing and undergoing coaching programs.
Results:
Beat Wickramashela MMV
Maris Stella: 158 (S. Dulshan 30, C. Dinusha 29, Savindu Perera 25, D. Rodrigo 3/32) and 117 (P. Prabashara 41, A. Chandralal 3/12, D. Rodrigo 3/30, P. Karunaratne 3/25)
Wickramashela MMV: 156 (U. Weerasinghe 42, N. Wijayasinghe 41, Kasun Nirmal 5/15, P. Pabshara 3/24) and 85 (A. Chandralal 34, Kasun Nirmal 4/19)
Beat DS Senanayake (Mirigama)
DS Senanayake: 189 (Nethum Manodya 91, Savindu Perera 5/70, P. Prabashara 3/48) and 99 (D. Hasanga 25, H Senadeera 25, D. Sachinthana 5/12, P. Prabashara 3/25)
Maris Stella: 421 for 9 dec. (Kasun Nirmal 102, Savindu Perera 96, D. Sachinthana 82, Kanishka Herath 73, Nethum Manodya 4/114)
Beat Sri Rajasinghe
Sri Rajasinghe: 113 (P. Munasinghe 24, S. Prabashana 5/24, Savindu Perera 4/33) and 189 (R. Dasun 66, G. Sandeepa 54, P. Prabshana 4/66)
Maris Stella: 225 for 9 (Pasindu Prabashana 70, D. Nimesh 29, S. Dilshan 23, M. Umayangana 4/80, H. Kaushalya 3/57) and 78 for 3 (Shenuk Sinawara 24, Kasun Nimal 24)
Beat Sripathi MV
Sripathi 132 (M. Dilshan 26, G. Kumara 25, Kaniska Herath 4/31, V. Vishara 3/42) and 155 (Geeth Kumara 32, V. Vishara 4/27, K. Hasitha 3/41)
Maris Stella: 347 for 7 dec. (K. Nirmal 115, Savindu Perera 30, K. Hasitha 21, P. Malitha 2/94)