Dharmapala College, Pannipitiya, endowed with experienced campaigners have struck a rich vein in the on going Inter School Under-19 tournament, quite in contrast to the battered team they were a few moons ago. Coached by Sanjaya Devapura, the team has at least half a dozen players who have played more than three seasons for the First XI team. And their coach Devapura pointed out that the experience of some of the players has helped them achieve success in third term matches.

"Dharmapala suffered five outright defeats last season. And the boys are now showing that they are ready to make amends for that. Some of the players have the experience of playing four to five years in Under-19 tournaments. Their experience comes in handy for us this season, Devapura told ‘The Island’ last week.

After four outings, Dharmapala have under their belt one outright victory and two first innings wins, which is quite in contrast what transpired last season. Their only disappointment so far is a first innings defeat to S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia.

The most remarkable performance this season for Dharmapala and probably the most stunning performance in the whole of the Under-19 two-day tournament was their outright victory against St. Peter’s College. According to college sources, it was their first ever victory over St. Peter’s College in Under-19 two-day tournaments. Their opponents were somewhat weakened by the absence of a few key players and Dharmapala exploited that to the maximum to record an innings and 17 run victory.

The Palians are captained by fifth year coloursman Nipun Pavithra, who has the support of three other senior players who have been with him in the team for over four years now. Pavithra also opens the batting.

Sixth year coloursman Hasitha Wickramasinghe, deputy skipper Tharindu Gamlath, who is a fifth year player and wicketkeeper, fifth year coloursman Dilrukshan Jayasundara and fourth year player Praneeth Rathnayake are the most experienced players in the side.

Last year’s captain Wickramasinghe was among the top performers in their victory against the Petes with a six wicket haul, while Praneeth Rathnayake and Hasitha Nirmal also contributed with four wicket hauls.

Second year coloursman Rasitha Gamage is the team’s highest scorer with a handy aggregate of over 300 runs in four matches. He played a major role in their victory over the Petes as he top scored with 72. Being a handy medium pacer as well, it makes him quite an asset to the team.

Dharmapala’s bowling is dominated by spinners, namely, off spinners Wickramasinghe and Jayasundara and leg spinners Gihan Hondamunige, Hasitha Nirmal and Ravindu Lakshan.

Third year coloursman Tharindu Liyanage, who opens batting, left handers Gihan Hondamunige, Chanuka Mapatuna and Hasitha Nirmal and second year player Isuru Gunathilaka who is also an Under-15 District team member, provide plenty of batting options for Dharmapala.

In a crucial season where the relegation system has been reintroduced to the Under-19 tournament, Dharmapala are ahead of their counterparts in Group D by virtue of their outright victory against St. Peter’s College and first innings wins against Prince of Wales and Nalanda.

The on going First XI season sees teams playing tournament matches and traditional (friendly) matches as well. Incidentally, while most of the teams seem to prefer to play a few traditional matches prior to playing tournament matches, the four matches played so far by Dharmapala are all tournament matches. That is probably an indication of the amount of confidence this team has in the on going season.