Piyushan will dominate opponents with bat and ball

Chris Dhambarage

The dream of every school boy fast bowler is to perform the unique feat of capturing a hat-trick in a First XI cricket encounter. And to follow that effort with a century in the same match is quite a remarkable achievement. This is exactly what Piyushan Kulathunga performed last week when he spearheaded Rahula MV Matara to an innings and 205 runs outright victory over St. Xavier’s College Marawila in their under 19 tournament fixture at the Uyanwatta Stadium.

It was just a couple of week’s ago that Rahula MV produced a champion fast bowler in the form of Harsha Rajapaksa who created a piece of history by capturing all ten wickets in an innings at the same venue.  However this performance by Piyushan Kulathunga was even more outstanding considering the amount of dominance he maintained with both bat and ball over the opposition throughout the two days. The seventeen year old right arm fast bowler of course did not have a great amount of success in the three earlier matches that he played this season against Veluwana MV, Maliyadeva College and Devapathiraja MV.

But he was able to make a huge impact when it really mattered as he proved his true potential and lived up to expectations as one of the finest exponents in this art of seam bowling. “I think I was bit out of form at the start of the season and I was really determined to make amends in this game” said the former Sri Lanka Schools Under 15 player who had toured Malaysia for a one day series. Kulathunga who is also the captain of the College Under 17 team believed that he was able to strike form in this match because he stuck to his basics and followed the instructions of his coach.

“I was really inspired following the advice from my coach Rohan Ariyatilleke before the game started and the conditions at the Uyanwatta Stadium provided me with further encouragement”. In fact his performance was so destructive and devastating that the opposition was skittle out for a mere 20 runs in the first innings and his four wicket haul in the second innings ensured their second outright victory for the current season. Piyushan Kulathunga was in tremendous form as he captured a wicket in the second, third and fourth deliveries of his sixth over to complete a rare hat-trick and finish with excellent figures of three wickets for just five runs.

He tormented the opposition in the second innings as well to return outstanding bowling figures of four wickets for 42 runs with the opposition folding up for 95 runs in 28 overs. Kulathunga’s heroics with the bat was even more entertaining than his previous performances on the field as the right hand opener hammered a sparkling 141 to help Rahula MV amass a formidable 320 for 6 wickets in their first innings. “I think the conditions improved later on in the game and stroke making was much easier with the ball coming in nicely into the bat except for a few deliveries which kept low”.

“I missed out a century in the previous match against Devapathiraja MV Ratgama when I was dismissed for 84 runs and this time I wanted to make amends with a big hundred”.In fact Piyushan Kulathunga has already touched the four hundred run barrier from just five outings inclusive of one century and two fifties and one of his main targets is to become the first schoolboy cricketer to touch the magical one thousand run mark this season.

Kulathunga is now a veteran in the game having played First XI cricket for the past four years after having learnt the basics of the game from his junior coaches Indunil Liyanage, Prasanna Galappatthy and Charith Palliyage with the back up support coming from the Master in Charge Piyasena Gamage.
Incidentally Kulathunga has also excelled as a good leader and under his captaincy Rahula MV Matara had the credit of reaching the pre quarterfinals of this year’s inter school under 17 tournament. In addition he also captained the Sri Lanka Schools under 17 team against the visiting Kerala Province team during a series of limited over matches and is set to take over the reigns of the College team next season.