Dharmapala record first win of series

Dharmapala Pannipitiya recorded the first outright win of the Battle of the Golden Lions big match series against traditional rivals Rahula College Matara with a convincing nine wicket win in the fourth match of the series which ended at De Zoysa Stadium in Moratuwa yesterday.

Dharamapala dominated t he opening day’s play thanks to Pasindu Keshan and Sachindu Vinod as they put themselves in line for victory after bowling out Rahula for a low score of 113 and ending the day on 195 for 5.

Dharmapala resuming on their overnight score going in for quick runs added another 23 runs whilst losing four wickets and ended their innings on 210 for 9 declared.

Rahula batting a second time with a deficit of 106 runs underwent some anxious moments and was struggling at 55 for 4 at the lunch break. They made a recovery in the post lunch session due to some stubborn batting by Rukshan Gunawardena who made 55 which helped them end with a score of 162.

Dharmapala left with an easy chase of 47 runs had little difficulty in achieving it as Himasha Liyanage and Prashan Ratnayake guided them home in just 4.5 overs.

Rahula Matara 113 (Hewa Nadugala 38, Piyuma Hewamadduma 23, Dinuka Madushan 21: Pasindu Keshan 4 for 10,AshenAbeykoon 2 for 40) and 152 (Rukshan Gunawardena 55, Thushal Nimnaka 22: Sachindu Vinod 3 for 33, Tharindu Maduwantha 2 for 13, Vishan Perera 2 for 29)

Dharmapala Pannipitiya (195/5 overnight) 219 for 9 declared (Sachindu Vinod 89, Tharindu Maduwantha 20, Harsha Gallage 29 n.o.: Dinuka Madushan 4 for 34, Dushan Sandaruwan 3 for 38) and 50 for 1 (Himasha Liyanage 25 n.o., Prashan Ratnayake 23 n.o.)