Vijaya and Christ Church clash at Dambulla

S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen, Kandy special correspondent

CRICKET: The third annual cricket encounter - "The Battle of the Friends" between Vijaya College, Matale and Christ Church College, Matale will be played at the Rangiri Dambulu International Cricket Stadium at Dambulla on Saturday May 6th - commencing at 9.30 a.m.

This match saw its birth in the year 2002 and the inaugural encounter was won by Christ Church College but the Vijayans hit back the following year by securing their maiden win to level the series.

This match was not played in the years 2004 and 2005 and both schools have taken a positive step forward to strive to win this match this year after a lapse of two years. Thus both teams will strive hard to clinch the lead in the series.

This will be also the first time this match will be played at the International Cricket Stadium a Dambulla as the Matale Esplanade is still not in a fit condition to play cricket. Thus they will have to travel 47 kilometres to play this match. St. Thomas College and Government Science College did the same last week, so did the Matale Cricket Club in the past months to keep their P. Sara trophy Division One fixtures.

This year the match will be restricted to a limited over encounter but will be counted in the series of encounters. This will be also the first time this match will be played on a turf wicket, and the players will wear coloured clothing.

Vijaya College will be led by third year coloursman Naleen Hulangamuwa, the best allrounder in the side who had pulled the side out in many difficult situations. His deputy will be Chathure Perera, a consistent performer with the bat and a good medium pacer.

But the star of the side will be medium pacer Nuwan Liyanapathirana who has represented Sri Lanka at the junior level and toured England with the Under 19 national team. Vijaya's fortunes in this match will rest on this trio.

Christ Church College will be led by third year coloursman and top allrounder Manjula Lokuge and his deputy will be Thilan Ratnayake who is a hard hitting bat and a right arm paceman who has been among the wickets. Christ Chirch College who are without a regular coach must be commended for continuing to paly school cricket this season.

With both teams well balanced, interesting fare is in store for the cricket fans who could afford the 47 kilometre trek to witness this match.

The teams:

Vijaya College (from) Naleen Hulangamuwa (Captain), Chathura Perera (Vice Captain), Nilusha Sandakelum, Lasantha Sampath, Sanjeewa Kumara, Premalal Bandara, Y. Suriyapatabendige, D.D. Tenna, Lakmal Wijesinghe, Kapla Pananwala, Suraj Senaviratne, Dilshan Galketiya, Isuru Ekanayake, Milan Ariyawansa, Amila Wijesuriya, Asanka Totagamuwa (Coach), Upul Karunaratne (Master in Charge).

Christ Church College (from) Manjula Lokuge (Captain), Thilan Ratnayake (Vice Captain), Anjula Dissanayakem Kosala Ratnayake, Vikumnath Jayasinghe, Malinda Marapana, Roshan de Silva, Kasun Karunaratne, Harsha Gayan, Aravinda Bandara, Sanjeewa Karunaratne, Supun Herath, Janitha Sandaruwan, Supun Karunathunga, Lakmal, Ekanayake, Akila Jasinghe, Lahiru Madhushan, Ranjan Madugalla, Rukshan Perera, Indika Wedagedara, Rohana Kumara, Sanjay Dengampola (Master In Charge).