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The penultimate week’s results of the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy/Schoolgirl Cricketer of the Year 2018 competition show that the two boys’ categories could finish off in a thriller, unlike the girls’ category, which possibly promises a one-horse race.
S. Thomas’ College skipper and left-arm spinner Dellon Peiris continues to lead the All-Island Schools category with a protected lead, while Kenula Gunaratne of St. Aloysius College Ratnapura, as predicted, has toppled Denuwan Perera of Carey College to take the lead of the Emerging Schools category. With a resounding lead, Harshitha Samarawickrama of Anula Vidyalaya promises a happy ending as the leader of the Girls’ Schools category.
Thomian Dellon’s addition of 1598 combined votes may not be the best in the All-Island Schools category, but he manages to reach 32189 to lead Vihan Gunasekara of D.S. Senanayake College by 8888 votes. This means that Dellon’s top position is secured for now, with just one more count left.
But Vihan seems to have picked up his pace lately and manages to earn 2519 combined votes, the best addition for the week from the category, to reach 23301. If Vihan adds up a count of closer to 10000 in the coming week, which is the final, he could challenge Dellon. But it is obvious that Dellon would not like to give in easily after leading for so many weeks. The third in line is Sachin Silva of St. Peter’s College, who added 829 combined votes to reach 19631, but if he is to challenge Dellon and Vihan, it would be a great achievements. The rest of the line-up in the category remains unchanged.
As anticipated Kenula from the City of Gems did what he aimed for by taking the top spot of the Emerging Schools category. As in the past two weeks, Kenula impressed by adding 3852 combined votes, the best count for the week overall. With that he reached 22084, overtaking Denuwan to lead him by 590 votes. Denuwan, on the other hand, added 2942 combined votes to reach 21494, which promises a thrilling end to this category.
Joining both Kenula and Denuwan is a late-comer, Kavindu Shilpage of Siri Piyaratana Padukka. His addition for the ended week was 3802 combined votes, with which Kavindu’s total reached 6439. This has helped him reach third position from fifth, but reaching the top or the second slot would be a hard task for him. Sonara Karunatunga of Ananda Sasthralaya, who led the category at a point and held on to the second position for quite a long time, sits at fourth with 6016 votes, needing probably over 500 votes or above to secure the third position. With only a count left and with Kavindu’s progress, it still could not be enough.
With just two more coupons weekends left before the checked flag of the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy/Schoolgirl Cricketer of the Year 2018 competition, the leaders of the two segments of the boys’ categories are facing a real test to see themselves through. With ONLINE votes uncounted due to restrictions imposed by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) during the past week on social media, only votes casted through coupons were counted in the concluded week.
As the results of the 24th week come out, it truly indicates that the remaining two weeks will be crucial for Dellon Peiris of S. Thomas’ College and Denuwan Perera of Carey College, as both have been thrown the challenge by their closest rivals.
Harshitha of Anula Vidyalaya continues to lead the Girls’ Schools category and looks safe to cross the tape with just one count left. She has cooled down on her progress but as her total stands at an unassailable 20753, her immediate rival, Pabasara Ranabahu stands little chance to challenge. Pabasara of Ratnavali Girls’ School Gampaha remains at second position with her total of 8204.
The show ends
The final coupon, Coupon No.26, of the competition will appear today (25 March) in the Sunday Times. This will be the final coupon for 2018 and votes will be accepted until Thursday (March 29) 12.00noon.
Dialog Axiata’s online voting system through their official Online Portal to vote for the Most Popular Cricketer (www.dialog.lk/cricket) will be open until 5 April. The results of the final count (Week 26) will be revealed with the addition of Online Votes on Sunday, 8 April.
Results: Week 25
All-Island Schools
Emerging Schools
Girls’ School
Readers prizes go to: 1. Anumi Nadilma, 350/E/1/B, Arukwatte North, Padukka, 2. Dinka Peiris, 34/25, Dharmaratne Avenue, Rawathawatte, Moratuwa, Sankalpani Munasinghe, 238, Sevagama, Polonnaruwa, 4. Nadee de Silva, 5/R/3, Renaissance City, Open University Road, Nupe, Matara
