Ran Kekulu Trophy Little 13 Cricket

St. Peter’s beat Mahanama in final

By Nishantha Kumara

St. Peter’s College under Sachin Dalpadadu became Ran Kekulu Trophy Little 13 champions when they narrowly beat Mahanama College by a single run in the final played last week at the MCA ground in Colombo.
St. Peter’s and Mahanama reached the final of the Division I segment out of 80 teams. The tournament jointly conducted by Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association and MassCom Pvt Ltd was sponsored by Bank of Ceylon.
In the final St. Peter’s batted first after winning the toss managed only 172-8 in 50 overs as Mahanam bowled and fielded well.
Lukshan Bandara with 3-24 was the pick of the bowlers.
Set a not so difficult target of 173 for victory, Mahanama did not do justice to their run chase as they lose wickets one after another to be bowled out for 171 in 46.2 overs.
Sachin Gunasekera and Hashan Weeratunga captured three wickets a piece.
St. Peter’s allrounder Sachin Gunasekera who scored 32 runs and captured 3 for 24 was named man of the match.
Bank of Ceylon’s Assistant General Manager (Western Province) Nimal Fernando and MassCom’s Managing Director and Western Provincial Council member Thilanga Sumathipala graced the final as chief guests.

Chief scores:
St. Peter’s 172/8 in 50 overs (Akalanka Palihena 33n.o, Sachin Gunasekera 32, Hashan Upendra 26; Lukshan Bandara 3/24, Dulanjana Seneviratne 2/18)
Mahanama 171 in 46.2 overs (Subuddhi Kaushalya 34, Sandesh Wickramasinghe 29, Sahan Peiris 24, Pubudu Gamlath 20; Sachin Gunasekera 3/24, Hashan Weeratunga 3/44)