Lookout for Devinda; he can be the catalyst
D.S. Senanayake College will go out as firm favourites against Mahanama College to clinch their traditional big match which is titled the Battle of the Golds, to be played on March 21 and 22 at the P. Sara Oval.
This encounter which will be played for the seventh consecutive year this time has not seen a winner since its inception in 2007.
Comparing with the track records of both teams from the schools cricket tournament, D.S. Senanayake who has a healthy record against the winless Mahanama has all the possibilities of clinching a win for the first time, if all their efforts come in place.
Though Mahanama are rated underdogs this time, its players have done pretty well individually, making the battle an interesting affair.
D.S. Senanayake under the captaincy of Duleeka Brahmanage has won two games from 15 outings and remains unbeaten while Mahanama have suffered three losses in 14 outings.
D.S. Senanayake has beaten St. Aloysius College Galle by 8 wickets and Lumbini by 9 wickets thus ending the remaining 13 games in draws. Mahanama on the other hand have led by Pavan Devinda lost to Zahira College by 2 wickets, Prince of Wales’ College by 8 wickets and St. Servatius College Matara by 6 wickets before ending 11 games in draws.
D.S. Senanayake has got a few run getters in skipper Brahmanage, Shifan Muthalif, Supun Madushanka, Uvin Bandara and Kanishka Prashan. The top run getter out of all is Muthalif who has made 458 runs with the best being 76 while skipper Brahmanage is the only centurion of the side. He has a best of 116 on his way to make 407 runs in total. Madushanka, Bandara and Prashan have scored averagely to near the 400 run mark.
Paceman Binura Fernando is their ace wicket taker with 66 a tally of scalps and to assist him is Supun Madushanka who has captured 44 wickets apart from being a good batsman.But Mahanama has a good set of batsmen despite their dismal performance as a unit.
Leading the bunch is skipper Pavan Devinda who became the first to reach the magical 1000-run mark.
He has made 1156 runs and also made history by becoming the first batsman this season to hit a double ton, with an unbeaten 200 against Dharmapala Pannipitiya. In form Devinda also has six half centuries to his credit, four of them being knocks above 80. Following Devinda are Kalindu Ashan and Subuddhi Kaushalya who have scored nearly 350 runs apiece with three and two half tons respectively.
Others who can strike to the occasion are Gihan Sajeewa, Naveen Silva and Senura Welagedara. Dulanjana Seneviratne and Dinuka Karunananda are strike bowlers. Seneviratne has accumulated 42 wickets while Karunananda has captured 31 scalps during their unimpressive season so far.
Most likely this year’s Battle of the Golds encounter promises an outcome which will favour D.S. Senanayake who has a well balances unit but if they fail to curtail the Mahanama top order led by skipper Devinda things will not look healthy for them.
It will be interesting to watch how the wicket at P. Sara Oval treats both teams as D.S. Senanayake anticipate a rare victory against an average Mahanama, who will be better off with a draw or even an unlikely win.