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Sports

Drab draw despite Ranaweera 'ton'
By Bilal Yusuf
The second sucessive 'ton' by Benedictine No. 6 bat Rajiv Ranaweera (102) was the highlight of their drawn encounter against Asoka Maha Vidyala at the R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday. Ranaweera's brilliant knock which came off 130 balls saw him strike 11 boundaries. The Benedict's middle order batsmen matched his fine display of stroke play with an excellent exhibition of running between the wickets too.

Rajiv who scored exactly one hundred in their last outing against Kalutara Vidyalaya last week at Kotahena batted together with C. Wijewardena saw them to a final total of 320 for 7 at close. This was in reply to Asoka 's first innings total of 200 for 9 declared on Friday.

St. Benedict's were in a spot of bother in the morning session when they lost their third wicket at the total of 77, but, a stubborn 67 run stand for the fourth wicket between Abhilash Fernando (38) and Oshan de Silva (39) saw them consolidate their position. Abhilash Fernando's knock was a painstaking one where he faced 212 balls.

Then came the best partnership of the day between the sixth wicket pair of Rajiv Ranaweera and Channaka Wijewardene who put up a partnership of 159 runs. Channaka scored an unbeaten 63.

Sanjeewa Wijethunga who represented Sri Lanka in the under 17 Asia Cup, posed some problems to the boys from Kotahena with his leg spin bowling claiming 3 for 54. Pacemen Teddy Dhanuska struck early in the inning to capture 2 wickets.

Asoka Vidyalaya who were up against the big boys for the first time in the season scored a respectable 200 for 9 declared on the first day. The main scorer for Asoka Vidyalaya was opener Darshana Hettiarachi who scored 80 off 140 balls with 11 boundaries. It was the spin pace combination of Prabath Maldunuaarachi (4 for 52) and Channaka Wijewardene (2 for 21) who took the wickets for St. Benedicts.

Asoka Vidyalaya - 200 for 9 dec (D. Hettiarachi 80, K. Weerasinghe 37, Rakitha Wijesiri 32; P. Maldunnarachi 4 for 52, C. Wjiewardene 2 for 21, E. Karunaratne 2 for 50) St. Benedict's - 320 for 7( R. Ranaweera 102, C. Wijewardene 63, O.de Silva 39; S. Wijethunga 3 for 54, T. Dhanushka 2 for 55)

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