Cricket 2007

 

 

Cricket Festival 2007	>>> Click here to view the event Album

 

 

                                       18^th Annual Royal-Thomian Cricket encounter in Canada

The 18^th annual Royal-Thomian cricket encounter was held on the 1^st of July, 2007 to coincide with Canada day and was held at the Maple Leaf Cricket Grounds, King City.

 

The event has become very popular among the Sri Lankan community and big matches of other schools such as Joe-Pete, DS-Maria Stella and St. Anthony’s-Trinity are also played alongside the Royal-Thomian. The event was organized in a traditional Sri Lankan big match setting and comprised a Beer garden, Baila music provided by a live band and an excellent crowd of around 2000.

 

The day began with the Royal-Thomian Stallions game which was restricted to 20 overs each. Thomian Stallions were captained by Chamil Welikala. The Royal Stallions upon winning the Toss elected to Bat first and scored 168 runs in their allotted 20 overs.  Sathish Gnanakumar (2-28), Sanjaya Perera (1-21) and Amal Rathnayake (1-30) were the pick of the Thomian bowlers.

The Thomian Stallions started off their innings in emphatic style with Indiran Sundaralingam and Sureshan Sachithananthan scoring 48 and 64 runs respectively.

The opening partnership of 124 runs eventually led the Thomians to a 5 Wicket WIN.

 

The main game of 45 overs for the coveted Mustangs Trophy began next. Played according to ICC standards and coloured clothing, the two teams were captained by two prominent International players.

The Thomians were led by former Canadian National cricketer Shantha Jayasekera and the Royalists were led by Shantha’s elder brother and former Sri Lankan Test cap Rohan Jayasekera.

 
Royalists were again lucky at the Toss and sent the Thomians into bat first. The Thomians failed to keep the momentum as wickets fell at regular intervals. At one time, the Thomians were 101 for 8 and looked to be in serious trouble. But Sean DeSaram played a gritty innings to score 80 not out and a 40 odd run partnership for the 9^th wicket helped the Thomians reach a somewhat defendable target of 158. The Thomian bowlers led by Captain Jayasekera, Lakshan Liyanage and Priyanka Guneratne did well to restrict the Royalists to 30 for 3 with two of their best players back in the pavilion. Around the 25^th over, the Royalists were still kept in check at 70 for 5.  However, a few dropped catches and a good partnership for the sixth wicket eventually saw the Royalists home by 3 wickets to spare. The Thomians fought right down to the wire and gave many glimpses of the well known “Thomian Grit”.

The awards ceremony followed. Sean DeSaram won the Best Batsman and Best All-Rounder awards for his outstanding performances, Lakshan Liyanage the Best Bowler and Trevor Fernando the Best Fielder.

 

Best wishes for the Thomian team in this year’s game.

 

ESTO PERPETUA.

 

Rajith Kannangara