11th Law Medical Encounter - Lawyers humbled by the Doctors after 8 years

Admin | 28 Aug, 2014 01:53AM | Leave a comment
(Report of the 11th law medical encounter held 5th July 2014 at Harrow School Cricket grounds)

 

The forecast was gloomy with just a few glimpses of sun predicted during the day. The Harrow school cricket greens were yet again a delight to play in. There was some trepidation about the wetness and a green streak across the playing surface. The behaviour of the pitch was the subject of some concern.

The lawyers turned up in full force with the full might of the legal hierarchy making an appearance in support.There was a buzz and some banter even before the start of play.

As usual the doctors team gathered together having to introduce themselves to each other as most of them travelled a distance for this one off annual match. One member having woken up at 5.30 am to get to London for a middaystart ,travelling all the way from Durham.  Allwere united in one purpose - to answer the call to beat the lawyers after 8 long years.

Yet again we failed to win the all-important toss and were sent into sample the treacheries of the damp wicket by the law skipper Chathura Warnasuriya.

 

Skipper Vinodh delivers the ideal start:

A very cautious start by the medical skipper Vinodh Elangasinghe leading from the front added 16runs off the first 5 overs before his young and more aggressive partner Manoj Wickramasinghe offered a simple return catch to Naveen against the run of play.

Knowing that the top order has been very unpredictable and vulnerable Vinodh decided to guide the top order through this danger period.

 

Nipuna Nips in with the first Ton

Newcomer Nipuna Senaratne fresh from the varsity game showed why he is classed as a bright star of the Cambridge team showing immense composure combined with delightful stroke play to forge a fantastic partnership of 82runs with the skipper for the second wicket. Just when the acceleration was required Vinodh was stumped trying to attack the spinner Manoj Warnapala who had been single handedly trying to exert some control to the legal attack with some nagging bowling. Forging ahead in the company of  Youvan Ilangakoon a veteran of several Law Medical campaigns, Nipuna embarked on the best period for the medical team with scintillating 91run partnership with both the batsmen taking full toll of the tiring legal attack and were helped by some ragged fielding lapses.When Youvan departed to a mistimed stroke Thilina Ambepitiya (18) followed by Minoth Kanagaratnam (7NO) helped Nipuna push the score along to a healthy 239 runs in the allocated 45overs losing only 4 wickets. Nipuna duly completed a very well deserved century off the final over becoming the first player in the history of the Lawmedical games to score a century for the SLMDA.

Despite a short stoppage for rain none of the bowlers from the law team managed to exert any prolonged control over the stroke play of the youthful medical batsmen.

 

The Legal Reply thwarted

The lawyer’s reply was dealt a huge blow when last years batting hero Manoj Warnapala was removed by Mo Ramali without scoring. Two further blows from the opposite end by Akram removing Michael and Miles Sriharan caused a further setback to the chase. However batting with the assurance the seasoned campaigner Leon and the newcomer Shaveen attacked any wayward deliveries pushing the score steadily, and compensating for the loss of early wickets. They forged a valuable and rapid partnership of 67 runs.

 

Medical skipper Vinodh continued to set aggressive fields to tempt errors and once the spinners were introduced the ploy paid off. Young Manoj Wickremasinghe showing some prodigious turn on a helpful surface. His variations  and fantastic turn of speed worried all the batsmen and he reaped rich awards firstly seeing off the dangerous Leon for a well made 47 runs and then snaring the veteran Harsha Rubasinghe. Working in Tandem with the Youngster the seasoned campaigner Ajantha Jayatunga helped to exert great pressure from the other end slowing the run rate down with a nagging length completing a miserly spell of 2 wickets for 16runs off his quota of 9 overs. Anura Malaweera continued to bamboozle the lower order lawyers with a sterling spell of 2 wickets for 18runs off 6.3 overs. With none of the lawyers managing to counter the spin threat they soon folded for a score of 179 with the only other notable contributions coming from The newcomer Shaveen and the old campaigner Hemantha Warnapala who scored 25 and 21runs respectively. Young Manoj having recovered from his travel weariness had the best figures of 3 for 36 off his 9overs.

 

The Medics were jubilant to have wrested the Law Medical trophy back after a lapse of 8 years. The match was played in a very friendly atmosphere despite not losing the competitive spirit.  Clearly the outstanding player of the match was youngster Nipuna Senaratne who created a piece of history with his sterling knock.

In the gathering gloom the 8 year long dominance of the ASSLUK was surely and squarely squashed by a determined and resourceful SLMDA.

 

The Medics rout Lawyers in the seconds

The seconds match was splayed in the adjacent pitch. Having been asked to take the first lease the docs were on the dock with 3 wickets falling quickly for 10 runs. Responding to the challenge skipper Uditha Jayatunga combining with Udara Kularatne forged a century partnership completely demoralising the legal attack..Towards the latter part all the bowlers were flayed to all parts of the ground by the rampaging Udara who made an excellent 72 notout.Asanga Fernando chipped in after Uditha departed for a captains knock of 34 runs. The total at the end of the allocated 30 overs was 173 for 4 wickets.

In reply the lawyers folded meekly due mainly to excellent bowling by Janaka Weeratunga,(2 for 12) Priyantha Siriwardene (2for 26) Jeewaka Samarasinghe  (2for 8) and the evergreen  Janapriya who  grabbed 2 for 3 runs In the final over.The margin of victory was more than 100 as the law reply ended in the 18th over for a mere 70 runs.

The event on the whole proved to be a great success again and the main organisers Wasantha Tennakoon and  Auffer Asver must take credit for another very satisfying day.

The spouses of both sides participated well with the carnival spirit being created by the musicians and the crowd being  entertained with plenty of authentic Sri Lankan food. The tug of war raised plenty of laughs and fun with the kids too enjoying in the frolics.

It would have been nice to have an event for ladies and maybe the organising committee will take this on board for future events.

 

Ajantha  Jayatunga