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by Chris Dhambarage

Skipper Duminda Wekadapola hit an elegant unbeaten century as Vidyartha College took major honours in the 45th Battle of the Babes Big Match against traditional rivals St. Sylvester's College which ended in a draw at the Asgiriya Stadium last week.

The stylish opener grabbed the opportunity and reached the three figure mark in the final over of the first day after they had been put into bat first. The Sylvestrians certainly would have been regretting throughout the day for their decision to field first on a good batting wicket after winning the important toss.

Wekadapola turned this game into a memorable outing stroking ten fours and also adding 184 runs for the first wicket along with his vice captain Mohamed Nilam. The pair batted with a great amount of confidence and had the Sylvestrians on the field throughout the first days play. In fact the Sylvestrians had to wait until 5.15 p.m to capture their first wicket but by that time Vidyartha College had laid the foundation for a good first innings total.

Vidyartha College eventually reached a competitive score of 239 for 2 on the first day with Wekadapola remaining unbeaten on 101 and with Mohamed Nilam scoring well compiled 71 including ten boundaries. The Sylvestrians however found run making really difficult on the second day and struggled to reach 120 for 5 in their first innings.

The pressure was so much that their scoring rate came down to just one run per over at one stage.

The Vidyartha bowlers completely dominated the scene while sending down a total of 57 maiden overs in the process. The Sylvestrians of course got off to a superb start with the openers Ravi Karunaratne and Tharanga Jayatissa adding 51 runs. But the middle order failed to consolidate their position and simply got into a shell during the last two sessions of play.

The Vidyartha bowlers stuck to their task with the spinners doing most of the damage. Even then Dilan Senanayake was simply outstanding and his 18 overs cost him only seven runs including 13 maidens. In addition Shakila Narankotuwa conceded only 14 runs from his 22 overs and overall the Vidyarthians bowled splendidly maintaining the pressure throughout the innings.

Kalutara MV v Tissa MMV

Another fine century from Kasun Dulanka of Kalutara MV highlighted the Battle of the Mangosteens Big Match against their traditional rivals Tissa MMV which ended in a draw at the Kalutara Esplanade. Dulanka who was later named man of the match hit a career best 126 as Kalutara MV made a strong reply scoring 289 runs in their first innings. He played the anchor role for the team with useful contributions coming from Dinesh Indika, Nadeera Nawala and Shanaka Vimarsha.

The bowling honours went to Nilanka Shirantha who returned fine figures of 4 for 48. Dasun Nadeeka and Ruwan Chinthaka also bowled reasonably well capturing two wickets each.

Earlier Tissa MMV batting first got upto 223 for 9 with Ruwan Chinthaka hitting a top score of 55. He was backed up well by M. Sriyan, Sajith Harshana, Niluk Sriyantha and Amitha Eranga with all providing useful contributions. Geethan Joseph had the credit of taking a five wicket haul in a Big Match which would have given him great satisfaction. He added three more wickets to his tally in the second innings and completed a matchbag of eight wickets.

Royal v S. Thomas'

Royal College concluded the inter school season with an impressive performance in their annual limited overs match against the traditional rivals S. Thomas' College at the R. Premadasa Stadium. Royal produced a superb all round performance to register a convincing 80 runs win in the annual Mustangs trophy encounter.

Electing to bat first, Royal got off to a shock start losing both openers Dimithri Siriwardena and Velu Arulprakash in quick succession in 3.1 overs with only 5 runs on the board. But Janith Jayawardena strode into the wicket at number 3 at a crucial stage and salvaged the innings with a face saving partnership of 80 runs with Navin Dias for the third wicket. Dias hit a top score of 87 and held the Royal batting together under tremendous pressure.

With the dismissal of Jayawardena, Dias batted with growing confidence to defy the Thomian attack and was also involved in a 45-run stand for the fourth wicket with skipper Rochana Wijeratne.

Dias provided the backbone of the Royal innings batting at number 4 and was seventh out facing 123 balls and reaching the fence on six occasions. Pramuditha Rodrigo, the Thomian paceman was the pick of the bowlers capturing 3 for 36.

The Thomians lost their way from the beginning and collapsed to 69 for 5 after four of their top batsmen were run out early in the innings.They never recovered from this setback and were bundled out for a disappointing total of 135 runs. Only Damith Warusawithana, Tharindu Fernando, and Pramuditha Rodrigo offered any resistance against the some tight bowling from the Royal spinners.

St. John's v Royal Panadura

St. John's College Panadura had the better of their traditional rivals Royal College Panadura in their fourth annual limited overs match played at the Panadura Esplanade. After restricting their opponents for 143 in 46 overs, St. John's reached their target with three overs to spare. However Royal Panadura did make a good comeback and made run making really difficult to the opposition. They succeeded in capturing seven wickets before going down fighting in a low scoring encounter.

Richmond v Mahinda

Richmond College defeated their traditional rivals Mahinda in their annual limited overs encounter played at the Galle International Stadium. Richmond batting first scored over two hundred runs and then dismissed their opponents for 174 to complete a comfortable victory.

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