Going into the 53rd Big Match at the Pallekele International Stadium on April 1 and 2 St. Sylvester’s hold a slight edge over rivals Vidyartha. For one thing, the Sylvestrians have nine seniors as against Vidyartha’ s seven. They also have a couple of fourth year players, while their opponents have two third years at best.
Left hander Menuka Nanayakkara, who has gone past the 600 run mark leads the Sylvestrians. He has been quite consistent. His deputy Niluka Kandaddarage has picked up 45 wickets with his left arm spin. Ruwantha Ekanayake with nearby 800 runs is one of their leading players. He has a century and four fifties. His leg breaks have fetched him 26 wickets. Another third year, Waruna Wijesinghe has scored over 500 runs, with a hundred against the Thomians at Mt. Lavinia as his best. He also opens the attack.
The Sylvestrians are certainly not short of spinners. Dushan Malalasena, a right arm leggie (28 wickets), Faiz Ahamed, an off spinner (36 wickets) and left armer Sumedha Dissanaike (28 wickets) will all combine to make things difficult for their opponents.
The Sylvestrians can take heart from their performance against the Thomians. They batted a mighty long time to make 243 and then claimed the last Thomian wicket in the last ball of the Match to tie on first innings.
Vidyartha’s problem has been the inconsistency of their batsmen. Certainly they have had their days. But there have also been occasions when they didn’t deliver. Occupation of the crease for long periods is what they should be aiming at.
Right hander Tharindu Ranaweera leads Vidyartha. He has performed consistently but big scores have eluded him, a change bowler, he is a good fielder in the covers.
The vice Captain of the side Ushan Wickremasinghe is the leading all-rounder, with 55 wickets and 477 runs. A fastish off spinner and a powerful striker of the ball, he has two six wicket hauls and a hundred.
Hard-hitting left hander Niluksha Galapitage (five fifties and top score of 98) is one of the key batsmen. He is in his element when chasing a target. Stumper-cum-opener Ruwan Bandara (like Galapitage) has gone past the 600 run mark. He scored two centuries and likes to attack the new ball. As a keeper he is brave enough to stand up at the stumps even for the medium pacies.
Kishan Gamage (top score of 110) is also a pretty useful leg spinner. Fast median bowler Samitha Attanayake, a left armer, has a best of 6/21 against Carey. Two half centuries attest to his value late in the order.
Tibira Rupasena missed around five matches on account of injury, but still managed to grab 32 wickets. His best was 5 for 52, his batting has been disappointing. Tiny left arm spinner Chanaka Ratnayake and middle-order bat Kasun Navaratne are two for the future.
St. Sylvester’s: (From) Menuka Nanayakkara, Niluka Kandaddarage, Ruwantha Ekanayake, Waruna Wijesinghe, Sumedha Aissanaike, Faiz Ahamed, Dushan Malalasena, Thiranka Gunaratne, Sasanka Navaratne, Minesha Mendis, Ashan Wanigasekera, Hansamal Perera, Harsha Madushan, Indunil Samarananda, Dilan Mel, Haroon Razik.
Vidyartha: (From) Tharindu Ranaweera, Ushan Wickremasinghe, Niluksha Galapitage, Tilina Rupasena, Ruwan Bandara, Keshan Gamage, Samitha Attanayake, Ravindu Dissanaike, Isuru Weerasinghe, Chanaka Rathnayake, Kasun Navaratne, Muditha Elpitiya, Subash Senadheera, Pethum Colombage, Upulitha Rajapakse, Thisara de Silva, Nipuna Ranaweera. |
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