sokians favouritespdfs.island.lk/2010/03/18/p15.pdf · serasinghe, roshen silva, kaushal silva (wk)...

by Revata S. Silva

The over–one-month-longInter-Provincial four-day crickettournament will commence today.

Five provincial teams,Basnahira North, BasnahiraSouth, Kandurata, Ruhuna andWayamba will participate in thistournament.

The SLC Combined XI team,comprising young players, whichfeatured in the two previous Inter-Provincial competitions, are not

taking part in this four-day compe-tition. The five-team tournament,with five round-robins, will go ontill May 16 when the final is sched-uled to be played at Pallekele,Kandy.

IPLAs a few players who partici-

pated in the two previous Inter-Provincial Tourneys, the 50-overtournament and the T20s, have leftthe island to take part in theIndian Premier League (IPL), hasresulted in some changes takingplace in the final combinations ofthe five provincial teams featuringin this four-dayers, starting today.

Previous 50-over and T20Tourneys

Earlier, Kumar Sangakkara ledKandurata to the Inter-Provincial50-overs Tournament’s title win onFeb. 21 before Jehan Mubarak’sWayamba on March 7 successfullydefended the Provincial Twenty-20competition title. On both occa-sions, the unfortunate runners-upwere Ruhuna, whose captain thisyear is Upul Tharanga.

Teams:Basnahira North:Thilina Kandamby (c), Amal

Athulathmudali, Sohan Boralessa,Daminda Darshanpriya, ShanukaDissanayake, Nuwan Pradeep,Arosh Janoda, DimuthKarunaratne, Nuwan Kulasekara,Dilshan Munaweera, AngeloPerera, Bathiya Perera, DammikaPrasad, MuthumudaligePushpakumara, SachithraSerasinghe, Roshen Silva, KaushalSilva (wk) and Gayan Wijekoon

Basnahira South:Chamara Silva (c), Malinga

Bandara, Yohan de Silva,

Hasantha Fernando, JanakaGunaratne, Dinuka Hettiarachchi,Charith Jayampathi, PrasannaJayawardene (wk), SurangaLakmal, Chinthaka Perera,Dilruwan Perera, Ruchira Perera,Amila Prasad, Gihan Rupasinghe,Milinda Siriwardana, LahiruThirimanne and MalindaWarnapura

Kandurata:Chamara Kapugedera (c),Kanishka Alwitigala, TyronGamage, Akalanka Ganegama,Sanjaya Gangodawila, KanchanaGunawardene, ChinthakaJayasinghe, Suraj Randiv, JeewanMendis, Ishan Mutaliph, Nadeera

Nawela, Suresh Niroshan,Tharanga Paranavitana, SachithPathirana, Seekkuge Prasanna,Bhanuka Rajapaksa, ThilanSamaraweera, ChamindaVidanapathirana and KaushalyaWeeraratne

Ruhuna:Upul Tharanga (c), Geeth

Alwis, Dinesh Chandimal, HarshaCooray, Ian Daniel, Gihan de Silva,Sujeewa de Silva, Hans Fernando,Lasith Fernando, UmeshKarunaratne, Kosala Kulasekara,

Tharanga Lakshitha,Nimesh Perera, AshanPriyanjan, TillakaratneSampath, Sachithra

Senanayake and SajeewaWeerakoon

Wayamba:Jehan Mubarak (c),

Rumesh Buddika,Sameera de Zoysa (wk),Rangana Herath,Damitha Hunukumbura,Shalika Karunanayake,Jeevantha Kulatunga,Kaushal Lokuarachchi,Chathura Peiris,Madura Lakmal, JanithPerera, Madawa Perera,Isuru Udana, MahelaUdawatte, MichaelVandort, ChanakaWelegedara, ChanakaWijesinghe and GeshanWimaladharma

Schedule of the 4-day Tournament:Mar 18–21 Wayamba v

Basnahira South atWelagedara Stadium,Kurunegala

Basnahira North vKandurata at MoorsGrounds, Colombo

Mar 25-28 Basnahira South v

Kandurata at Pallekele Ruhuna v Basnahira

North at Galle Apr 3–6 Wayamba v Ruhuna at De

Zoysa Stadium, Moratuwa Basnahira South v

Basnahira North at Colts Ground,Colombo

Apr 22–25 Basnahira North v Wayamba

at De Zoysa Stadium, Moratuwa Ruhuna v Kandurata at Galle May 6–9 Basnahira South v Ruhuna at

P. Sara, Colombo Kandurata v Wayamba at

Pallekele May 13–16 Final between top two teams at

Pallekele.

Thursday 18th March, 2010 15

Seated from left: Yasodha Lanka, Tharanga Indika (Coach), Irosh Samarasooriya (ViceCaptain), E. M. S. Ekanayake (Principal), Kusal Prabodha (Captain), Damith Prasanna(MiC) and Dhananjaya De Silva. Standing from left: Hasitha Madushan, Pabasara Waduge,Kalana Sasanka, Sandaru Danthanarayana, Chamod Piumal, Supun Dissanayake,Dhanushka Jayawardena, Dileepa Priyadarshana, Suraj Palliyaguru, CharithPriyadarshana and Mahesh Sandaruwan.

Seated from left: Tharaka Nimesh, Harsha Munasinghe (Coach), K. Wimalasena (Deputy Principal-Sports),Kaushlya Gajasinghe (Vice Captain), R. M. Werahera (Principal), Denuwan Rajakaruna (Captain), K. M.D.Prasad (Master-in-Charge), Rumesh Buddhika and Nisala Tharaka. Standing from left: Chandu Piripun,Sohan Kariyawasam, Chalana de Silva, Udara Jayasanka, Dilan Buddhika, Sachith Lakmal, Hasitha SandaNuwan, Dinidu Sampath, Dimuthu Ruwan, Supun Chanaka, Indeera Gallage, Nirwantha Thikshila andHashan Kumuditha.

Inter-Provincial 4-day cricket begins

Thilina Kandamby(Basnahira North)

Chamara Silva(Basnahira South)

Jehan Mubarak(Wayamba)

Upul Tharanga(Ruhuna)

C. Kapugedera(Kandurata)

by Reemus Fernando

Dharmasoka College,captained by fourth yearcoloursman ChalithaMadushan are the favouritesagainst Devananda College,skippered by fourth yearcoloursman RameshLakshitha, who will be out toturn tables on their arch-rivalswhen the two teams meet inthe 44th ‘Battle of the Blues’ ofAmbalangoda, on March 20and 21 at the Public Grounds,Ambalangoda.

After a fine performancein the Division I Two-day tour-nament, where they toppedtheir Group, recording outrightvictories against Kingswood,Revata, Holy Cross and St.Aloysius’, Dharmasoka are inwinning mode. In friendlyencounters they recorded anoutright victory over RahulaCollege and suffered defeatsat the hands of Ananda andSri Sumangala, Panadura.

They have a strong bat-ting line which includes skip-per Madushan (over 500runs for the season), deputyskipper Ashane Kavinda(over 700 runs), GihanMihiranga (over 450 runs),Adeesha Thilanchana (over400 runs), NilushaUththamadasa (over 350runs) and DumindaKannangara (over 350 runs).For bowling, the Sokians willrely on Ramesh Mendis (60wickets) and DumindaKannangara (40 wickets),who have shared over 100 wicketsthis season.

Their good form suggests thatthey could carry forward their domi-nance in the series into the 44thbattle. It is Dharmasoka who leadsthe victory tally, 8-1.

Devananda, who enjoyed fluc-tuating fortunes, playing in theDivision II two day tournament willrely on their experienced playersfor both runs and wickets. SkipperLakshitha, who has picked up over50 wickets with his off spin is theirleading wicket taker and makes agood spin combination with 14-

year-old leg spinner CharithSudharaka, who has 40 scalps tohis credit. They will also countheavily on left arm pacemanRandima Vidyarathne and slow ballbowlers Pulina Tharanga andDilshan de Silva. In batting, Dilshande Silva is the leading scorer withover 500 runs and skipperLakshitha, Pulina Tharanga andSham Suranga who were amongthe runs this season will rallyaround him.

Playing against Division IIteams, Devananda recorded victo-ries against Kegalu Vidyalaya and

Rahula College, while featuring in10 outings. They lost to Royal(Panadura), St. Thomas’ (Matara)and Piliyandala Central Colleges.

Going into the match as under-dogs Devananda’s young outfit hasa chance of creating history, if theycould match the might of theircounterparts, as they have notrecorded a victory since 1966.Their last and only victory in theseries was in 1966, under the cap-taincy of M. U. Amaradasa.

Dharmasoka last won underthe captaincy of K. M. Tharaka, inthe year 2006.

44th ‘Battle of the Blues’ of Ambalangoda

Sokians favourites

Seated from left: Ashen Kavinda, P. Milton (Coach), K. G. Thilakaratne(Sports Secretary), M. G. O. P. Panditharathne (Principal), M. W. Sunil deSilva (MiC), Chalitha Madhushan (Captain) and Nilusha Uththamadasa.Standing from left: Ramesh Mendis, Nimesh Prashan, Chamath Kavinda,Duminda Chandimal, Yohan Rashmika, Gihan Mihiranga, AdeeshaDulanjala, Sudara Deshan, Thanura Dakshitha, Tharindu Sandaruwan,Buddhi Tharaka, Chathura Umayanga and Pasan Chandrasiri.

Seated from left: Pulina Tharanga, Ramesh Lakshitha (Captain),Rathnasiri Batuwangala (MiC), H. M. Sumathipala (Principal), SurajSanjeewa (Coach), Sham Suranga and Dilshan de Silva. Standing fromleft: Ishara Mendis, Yoshan de Silva, Imesh Udayanga, DanushkaChathuranga, Randima Vidyarathne, Charith Sudaraka, LakshithaSirimanne, Dilaj de Silva, Inosh Shabeena, Tharindu de Silva andRishika Theekshana (Absent: Sithara Madusanka)

by Reemus Fernando

When the two powerhouses ofcricket in Galle, namely,Richmond and Mahinda meet

in the 105th ‘Lover’s Quarrel’ BigMatch commencing Friday, the twoinstitutions will showcase how muchthey have contributed to Sri Lanka’sjunior cricket structure.

Mahinda, under the captaincy ofDenuwan Rajakaruna, andRichmond, under the captaincy ofKusal Prabodha, will have in theirranks at least six players who havegone on to make Sri Lanka Under-19pools during the past year.

Mahinda comprises a balancedoutfit that includes two Sri LankaUnder-19 caps, Rajakaruna andRumesh Buddhika, who were an inte-gral part of Sri Lanka Under-19 inthe recently held Youth World Cup in

New Zealand.Richmond’s line-up is embellished

by Sri Lanka Under-19 cap YasodhaLanka and all rounders IroshSamarasooriya and Dananjaya deSilva who came close to winning SriLanka Under-19 caps.

With half a dozen Sri LankaUnder-19 playersgearing up forthe annual bat-tle, there is hard-ly any doubt thatit will be a close-ly contestedaffair.

Rajakaruna will have the supportof an experienced outfit, with formercaptain Rumesh Buddhika, deputyskipper Kaushalya Gajasinghe,fourth year player Tharaka Nimesh,third year players Sachith Lakmal,Nisala Tharaka, Udara Jayasankaand second year players Nirvantha

Thikshila and Chalana de Silva form-ing a balanced outfit together with afew freshers.

For Richmond, Kusal Prabodha,Yasodha Lanka, Irosh Samarasooriya,Dananjaya de Silva and PabasaraWaduge are the experienced playerswho have excelled during the season.

In the few matches (9) he played,Yasodha Lanka tops the highest scor-ers list with over 700 runs, whichincludes four centuries. WhileDananjaya de Silva is a close secondwith 708 runs with three centuries,Samarasooriya, who topped 600 runs,has a double century in it.

Samarasooriya (over 40wickets this season), is theirbowling spearhead and willshare the new ball withLanka. Spinner Danajayawill be in charge of the spindepartment. He has a tallyof over 40 wickets this sea-son.

For Mahinda, deputyskipper KaushalyaGajasinghe leads the runs

and wickets tallies with over 750 runsand 65 wickets as he captained theteam in the absence of regular skip-per Rajakaruna.

Paceman Nisala Tharaka is aclose second with over 50 wickets and500 runs. When they combine withRajakaruna and Rumesh Buddhika,

who gathered experience playing inSouth Africa, New Zealand andAustralia for Sri Lanka Under-19,they will make a formidable outfit.

Mahinda had a successful season,recording three outright victories in16 outings. They beat Wesley in atournament match and recorded vic-tories against St. Servatius’ and St.Thomas’ College, Matara, in friendly

encounters.This season, Richmond played 13

matches and recorded three outrightvictories, all in tournament matches,while suffering two defeats. They beattheir Group ‘B’ counterparts Revata,Holy Cross and St. Aloysius’. Theysuffered defeats at the hands ofTrinity and S. Thomas’ College,Mount Lavinia.

Both teams had to make do with-out their top players for some match-es during the season as they were onnational duty. And incidentally, bothteams have qualified this year to playthe Inter School Under-19 LimitedOvers tournament, an achievementonly 16 other Division I teams haveaccomplished.

There are contradictory reportswith regard to the victory tally inthis series. According to Mahinda,they lead the tally 23-21 which is dis-puted by Richmond. According to asource close to Richmond, two daymatches had been played only since1928 and Mahinda had recorded 11victories against Richmond’s 10 since1928. He said that the matches playedbefore 1927 had been played as one-day (4 innings) encounters. Thesource said the series which com-menced in 1905, had been interruptedin 1910, 1911, 1912, 1916, 1926 and 1942and if counted right, this year’s edi-tion would be the 100th encounter.

Dharmasoka College

Devananda College