136th Battle of Blues Limited-over encounter - Rambukwella guides Royal to 9-wicket victory

by Roshen Steelman

Royal College skipper Ramith Rambukwella, who missed his century twice in-a-row in the recently concluded 132nd Battle of Blues Big Match, had a memorable outing when he scored an unbeaten century to guide Royal, Colombo to a nine-wicket victory over S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia in the 36th Battle of Blues Limited-over encounter which was worked off at SSC grounds, Colombo yesterday.

S. Thomas’, put in to bat first, lost wickets at regular intervals and was bundled out for a paltry 167 and, in reply, the two Royal openers Rambukwella and Varuna Dissanayake steered them to the fine victory.

Chasing the paltry target, the Royalists made a strong statement. The entire day was belonged to Rambukwella, who brought his good batting form to the Limited-over encounter after scoring 83 and 79 in the first and second innings respectively in the recently concluded Big Match. Rambukwella, facing 82 deliveries, hit 13 fours and a six while his opening partner Dissanayake scored 48 off 57 deliveries with five fours.

Earlier S. Thomas’ lost wickets at regular intervals with Asiri Wickramanayake and Neomal Wickramasekra scoring 34 runs each. Devinda Pathmanathan was the pick of bowlers taking four wickets for 34 runs.

Brief Scores:

S. Thomas’ College 167 all out in 40.5 overs (Asiri Wickramanayake 34, Neomal Wickramasekera 34, Kavindu Perera 16, Sachin Peiris 29; Devinda Pathmanathan 4/34, Gaurav Deva 2/24)

Royal College 168 for 3 wkts in 27.5 overs (Ramith Rambukwella 103 n.o., Varuna Dissanayake 48; Umesh Fernando 1/26, Rishane Mathangaweera 1/58)

Special Awards -

Best Batsmen: Ramith Rambukwella (Royal), Neomal Wickramasekera (S. Thomas’)

Best Bowlers: Devinda Pathmanathan (Royal), Umesh Fernando (S. Thomas’)

Most Outstanding Fresher: Rishane Mathangaweera (S. Thomas’)

Man of the match: Ramith Rambukwella (Royal).

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