The Rajans planned the second day’s campaign in their Big Match with meticulous precision. One felt that Kingswood, who batted for 91 overs on day one, had done enough to forestall a Rajan victory. How wrong we were! Dharmaraja’s batsmen raced to a five run lead and then called a halt.
The three main bowlers – Karunaratne, Vithanarachchi and Lanka – then cut through Kingswood’s fragile batting order to set up an exciting run-chase. A win was finally achieved with a mere two balls left.
Can the Rajans do the double by winning today’s limited over match? Rewind the clock to March 2011. Dharmaraja had won the Big Match much more easily. The lads from Randles Hill seemed ready for the taking. Yet Yasindu Atukorale’s team dug deep and produced a stunning display to topple favoured Dharmaraja.
Weerakoon’s team will surely draw strength from this performance. However, getting runs easily and plentifully against Dharmnaraja’s basically three-man-attack could be a problem. On the other hand stopping Dharmaraja’s speedy run getters such as Gunasekera and Karunaratne, in particular, is no easy task.
Skipper Viraj Karaputugala, who was thrust into the hot seat midway through the season, is another front liner who has it in him to score big. Stumper Ranesh Ranasinghe also puts bat to ball.
Weerakoon, Kingswood’s skipper, is a bit stodgy, so he will have to change gear. Supun Bandara made seventy in the Big Match and he is obviously in good nick. Kandanarachchi bats aggressively and with flair. Hettiarachchi also can contribute.
The key to today’s match will be whether Kingswood can keep the Rajan score to manageable propotions. |
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