Anula, Devapathiraja and Ratnavali BV vie for honours
Girls' cricket receives a major boost by the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times show
It’s a three-cornered battle for supremacy in the Girls section of the Sunday Time-Dialog Schoolgirl Cricketer contest between Anula Vidyalaya, Devapathiraja College, Rathgama and Ratnavali Balika Vidyalaya (BV).
These three schools battled for the championship in the Singer Under-19 Girls Championship 2019, proving they match one another in all departments of the game. After a hectic battle in the semifinals, Devapathiraja and Ratnavali locked horns in the finals.
Ratnavali BV made the biggest upset in the tournament when they knocked out the fancied Anulians in the semifinals. On the other hand, the lasses from Rathgama lived up to their reputation and emerged champions for the fourth consecutive year without any difficulty.
All three schools are blended with talent and experience. Anula Vidyalaya boasts of producing several cricketers of national standard, while Devapathiraja, with a bunch of fighters in their ranks, too, have fed the national team with outstanding cricketers. Giant killers Ratnavali lasses failed to deliver the goods in the finals, as they went down without a fight to the disappointment of the large number of spectators present at the Thurstan ground.
Though a fair number of outstanding girl cricketers were in action at the Singer Under-19 Girls cricket tournament, it was Anulian Janadi Amali stands out with her performances alongside Kavisha Dilhari of Devapathiraja, Rathgama and Rashmi Silva of Rathnavali BV. An excellent all-rounder who rises to the occasion for her alma mater, guided them to victories and changed near defeats into victories. The winner will be announced at the event.
A top class front line batter with strokes all round the wicket, Amali gets into stride in no time. Her driving and placing off the front foot is a delight to watch, as she makes the fielders mere spectators seeing the ball whistle past.
Her allround capabilities found her a passage into the National team and much is expected from this lass in the future. Her performances with the bat and ball in the tournament saw her scoring 198 runs and capturing 20 wickets.