Dharmaraja College produced a fine all round performance to beat their traditional rivals Kingswood College outright by nine wickets in their 108th annual Battle of the Maroons Inter School Big Match which concluded at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy today.
This was a fantastic effort from the Rajans considering the fact that there were clear signs that the match was heading towards a draw at the end of the first days play.
However in a dramatic turn of events Dharmaraja College were able to completely change the complexion of the game with an inspired spell of bowling spearheaded by their newcomer Wenuka Galahitiyawa who emerged as the unlikely hero for his team.
The left arm spinner who did not have a great amount of success in the first innings really made amends for that with a career best bowling performance where he went on to claim seven wickets for 18 runs.
After a pretty ordinary spell in the first innings he came into his own to steal the limelight while demolishing the Kingswood College batting line up almost single handedly.
In fact Kingswood College were shot out for just 79 runs in the second innings one of the lowest scores in the Big Match series with only Chanuka Ratnayake and Tharindu Liyanage managing to enter double figures.
Dharmaraja College were then left with an easy victory target of 53 runs and they accomplished their task in style while racing to 54 for one wicket from just eight overs.
Earlier the Rajans took a close first innings lead of 26 runs as they were dismissed for a modest 229 runs after having resumed at 121 for 3 overnight.
Chandimal de Silva hit a top score of 55 and he received excellent support from Kavinda Ratnayake (38), Jayapathma Tennekoon (30), Denith Lanka (29) and Tharusha Weragoda (23) who were able to make some useful contributions towards their final tally.
Wenuka Galahitiyawa of Dharmaraja College was later named Man of the Match for his heroics with the ball in the second innings.
Kingswood College: 203 (Mihidum Weerasinghe 44, Ruwantha Hathurusinghe 43, Supun Bandara 30, Deneth Lanka 5 for 51, Sapumal Tennakonn 2 for 15) and 79 in (Chanuka Ratnayake 20, Tharindu Liyanage 23, Wenuka Galahitiyawa 7 for 18, Sapumal Tennakoon 2 for 12)
Dharmaraja College: 229 (Chandimal De Silva 55, Kavinda Ratnayake 38, Jayapathma Tennkoon 30, Deneth Lanka 29, Tharusha Weragoda 23, Tharindu Liyanage 5 for 45, Daminda Weerakoon 3 for 56) and 54 for 1 (Rameesh Ranasingh 31 n. o, Jayapathma Tennakoon 14 n. o)
