Dharmaraja pulled off a stunning seven wickets win over Kingswood with two balls to spare in their 106th Big Match played at the Pallekelle Stadium.
When Kingswood made 216 batting late into the first day, one thought they had saved the game. However the Rajans raced to 220 for 7, a lead of only four runs and then delivered crucial blows to bowl Kingswood out for only 72. Nuwan Karunaratne led the way with a burst of 4 for 14.
This left the Rajans a target of 68 in nine overs and Sasith Gunasekera slammed a quick 25 to take them to the target.
In the morning session, valuable fifties from Sasith Gunasekera and Nuwan Karunaratne saw the Rajans racing past the challenging 216 made by Kingswood.
Thus the Rajans repeated last year’s victory, but this time they had to really sweat for it.
Supun Bandara (70) top scored in the match. Lakmal Hettiarachchi batted with determination to score 45.
Kingswood 216 (L. Hettiarachchi 45, A. Kandanarachchi 26, N. Weerakoon 26, S. Bandara 70; D. Lanka 3/26, S.Gunasekera 2/29) and 72 (N. Weerakoon 26; N. Karunaratne 4/14, A. Vithanarachchi 2/18, D. Lanka 2/3)
Dharmaraja 221 for 7 dec (S. Gunasekera 54, N. Karunaratne 57, R. Ranasinghe 34, V. Karaputugala 24; L. Hettiarachchi 2/22, G.K. Bandara 2/27) and 69 for 3 in 8.4 overs (S. Gunasekera 25, N. Karunaratne 14, D. Lanka 12, L. de. Silva 12; Monarawila 2/28) |
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