Rajans hold the edge in the oldest Big Match in Central Province

By Shamseer Jaleel

Dharmaraja College will hold the edge when they confront Kingswood College at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium (PICS) on March 24-25 in the oldest Big Match in Central Hills. The encounter, played for the 116th time, is also the second-oldest Big Match in the country.

The first encounter between the two schools started in 1899, with JC de Mel leading the Rajans while Kingswood was led by TB Marshall.

The Rajans lead the overall tally with 33 wins, while Kingswood have won 19, with the remaining 63 ending in draws. Dharmaraja last won in 2015 under Tharusha Weragoda, while the Randles Hill School wait has been too long since 1958 under Maurice Fernando. Both schools will be playing for the TB Tennakoon Memorial Trophy, which is known as the Battle of the Maroons.

The Kingswood outfit is led by Amesh Rupasinghe. The lads from Randles Hills played in 12 encounters this season, winning two of them and losing four, with six of their games ending in a no-decision.

Their batting has been well supported by Kavija Gamage, who has top-scored with over 750 runs (one century and four half-centuries). The 15-year-old youngster scored a sparkling 160 against Panadura Royal, which was his highest score this season.
Their bowling has been spearheaded by young leg-spinner Kenula Philianga (14), who has been outstanding this season. He took 36 wickets, including 5 or more, against PD Kularathne, MV, and Katugastota Ranula. His best came out a couple of weeks ago against Lumbini, when he took a match bag of 13 wickets. Kenula took 8/59 in the first and 5/36 in the second innings for Kingswood. He shows a lot of promise at a young age, playing his debut school season at Under-19 level. He also played for the Central Province in the Under-15 Prima Super Provincial Tournament.

Skipper Rupasinghe has also been among the wicket-takers, taking 27 this season, while left-arm spinner Sandaruwan Nawaratne has 30 and Nenuka Dissanayake has accounted for 20. Both Abdul Hakeem and Nikeshala Nanayakkara are good all-rounders. Hakeem took a good number of wickets while also being among the runs this season, scoring two hurricane half-centuries, while Nanayakkara scored over 250 runs with a half-century.

But as a team, Kingswood have failed to live up to the high expectations this season; this will be the game for them to regain some lost pride.

Meanwhile, Dharmaraja has a well-balanced outfit this season. But their results this season do not show how good they are. They are led by Tisaru Wanninayake. They beat Dharmapala Pannipitiya and lost to Trinity, St. Peter’s, and St. Aloysius’, with 11 games ending in draws.

Pulidu Perera has single-handedly led the batting for the Dharmaraja outfit with 1012 runs this season (two centuries and seven fifties). Onajith De Silva (448) and Nisala Abeyratne (216) have also been among the runs. Meanwhile, their bowling was led by Wanninayake with 43 wickets, supported by Perera (32) and Abeyratne (29).

Teams:

Dharmaraja: Thisaru Wanninayake (C), Dulara Badulasena, Pulidu Perera, Isuru Pannala, Maleesha Rajakaruna, Onajith Silva, Nisala Abeyrathna, Arosha Mahagedera, Naveen Jayaweera, Rusiru Bandara, Dakshitha Manukalpa, Kalana Herath, Tiran Wickremarathne, Kavidu Gunaratne, Tharindu Warunakulage, Hirun Hirigeeganage, Chamath Bandara, Shehan Marasinghe, Irusha Jayawardena, Dinuka Moragammana, Champika Siriwardena (Head Coach), Amarajeewa Dissanayake (MIC), and Saliya Samarawickrema (POG)

Kingswood: Amesh Rupasinghe (C), Kavija Gamage, Ravindu Tharinda, Nenuka Dissanayake, Gauranga Bandara, Menuka Heshan, Nadeesha Janith, Amiru Amunupura, Manjula Wijetunge, Nikeshala Nanayakkara, Adhil Sheriff, Dinuk Sandaruwan, Sanuka Kasthuri, Buddika Namakeerthi, Barana Ratnayake, Abdul Hakam, Kenula Philiyangoda, Yojith Hettiarachchi, Yosath Abeykoon, Ronald Steeven, Piyal Salgado (Head Coach), Nalin Rathnayake (MIC), and Lanka Francis (POG)