Mahanama College, Colombo proved that their entrance to the knockout stage was no coincidence but a well deserving achievement as they booked a berth in the final of an Inter School Under-17 Division I tournament for the first time in history beating St. Benedict’s College, Kotahena by 43 runs in the semi-final played at CCC Grounds yesterday.

After losing a vital toss, they defied the Bens with some discipline bowling to defend a low score as paceman Tharindu Nipendra and spinner Chanuka Rupasinghe shared six wickets between them to restrict their opponents to 130 runs. Chasing a target of 173, St. Benedict’s received the first blow when their opener Waruna Fernando was caught brilliantly by Danushka Gunathilaka at extra cover off the bowling of Nipendra.

Wickets started to fall at regular intervals for Bens. After the top order was rattled for 65 runs, Eranga Ratnayake and Dinushan Wanigasuriya were the only batsmen who could resist the Mahanama attack for little periods as they chipped in with 26 and 23 runs respectively. With the asking rate climbing to over six runs in the last ten overs, the last three batsmen could do very little to avert the inevitable. And the Bens folded up in the 46th over.

Mahanama had a fairly good start with opener Randika Welikannage and left -hander Hashan Perera putting up a 51 run stand for the second wicket to place them at 65 for two after skipper Sajith Ruberu was bowled for just three runs by Chamara Ferdinandes.

Danushka Gunathilaka took the initiative from there on. Fresh from an effort that won him the Man of the Match award in the quarter-final, Gunathilaka played the anchor role. He combined with Aravinda de Silva for a partnership of 50 for the fourth wicket and then added 37 runs for the eighth wicket with Chanuka Rupasinghe. Gunathilaka batted for nearly 30 overs facing 89 deliveries.

He top scored with 50 runs before being caught by Dinushan Wanigasuriya off the bowling of Erana Ratnayake who picked up his only wicket in an economical spell of ten overs for 15 runs. Gunathilaka hit two sixes and a solitary four in his half-century.

R. Welikannage lbw b Ruwantha 14

S. Ruberu b Ferdinandes 03

H. Perera b P. Fernando 22

D. Gunathilaka ct Wanigasuriya b Ratnayake 50

A. de Silva run out (Samarasinghe) 20

T. Nipendra b I. Fernando 05

D. Rusiru ct W. Fernando b I. Fernando 01

L. Weerakoon ct W. Fernando b I. Fernando 00

C. Rupasinghe run out Ratnayake 17

C. Fernando not out 05

U. Supun run out (Samarasinghe) 00

Extras: (4b, 1lb, 24w, 7n) 36

Overs: 47.5

Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-65, 3-66, 4-116, 5-123, 6-129, 7-129, 8-166, 9-169.

Bowling: Ferdinandes 5-0-32-1(8w), Wanigasuriya 5-0-24-0(6n, 3w), P. Fernando 1-0-10-1 (1n, 4w), Ratnayake 10-3-15-1(1w), Ruwantha 10-0-29-1, I. Fernando 10-1-37-3(3w), Samarasinghe 6.5-0-21-2(1w)

N. Fonseka lbw b Nipendra 22

W. Fernando ct Gunathilaka b Nipendra 07

R. Sheran ct Weerakoon b Gunathilaka 01

S. Ruwantha b Nipendra 03

R. Weerasinghe ct Nipendra b Rupasinghe 12

E. Ratnayake ct Rusiru b Welikannage 26

P. Fernando lbw Rupasinghe 02

D. Wanigasuriya st Weerakoon b Perera 23

I. Fernando ct Rusiru b Welikannage 03

C. Ferdinandes bowled Rupasinghe 09

R. Samarasinghe not out 05

Extras: (4b, 2lb, 11w) 17

Overs: 45.5

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-21, 3-42, 4-46, 5-65, 6-71, 7-101, 8-111, 9-112

Bowling: Gunathilaka 9-2-26-1(3w), Nipendra 9-1-13-3(2w), Ruberu 7-2-23-0(1w), Rupasinghe 8.5-1-24-3(3w), Welikannage 10-2-30-2(1w), Perera 2-0-8-1(1w)

Man of the Match: Danushka Gunathilaka

Umpires: Sisira Kumara, Sujith Chanaka

Coaches: Mahanama-Vipula Sittemige, St. Benedict’s- N.I.C. Silva