DS Senanayake College were awarded the match when the crowd invaded the playing area and made a big havoc in the 9th Battle of Golds – Limited Overs Encounter against Mahanama College at SSC grounds on Sunday.
DS Senanayake College was 175 for 4 in 40.1 overs at the time of interventions in chase of 176 runs. At the fall of the 4th DS Senanayake College wicket, sections of the crowd vented their disgust with the state of the match by running in to field and remove stumps. The match referee, Saman Amerasinghe stopped the game and the game was awarded to DS Senanayake College by default.
Mahanama skipper Subuddhi Kaushalya won the toss of coin and elected to bat. Both openers were sent back to the pavilion within 3 overs. One drop batsman Thanula Wickramasinghe played a patient innings holding his end as steady as a rock. Wickets continued to tumble as the Mahanama boys were deprived of scoring runs at will by the tight and disciplined DS bowling unit.
DS skipper Harith Maduwantha bowled his 10 overs of off-spin for just 16 runs and took 2 wickets while slow left-arm orthodox spinner, Sachin Bandara gave away only 21 runs in his quota of 10 overs and picked up 2 scalps. Thanula was the top-scorer for Mahanama with a 121-ball 45 which comprised 5 fours. They were 132 for 9 but the last pair of Dinuka Karunanada and Dulanjana Senevirathne gave some respect to the score with a superb 43-run stand for the last wicket. Mahanama innings was eventually ended in the last ball with 175 runs on the board.
Chasing 176 runs to win, DS lost both their in-form openers, Thimila Vidyasekara and Kavin Bandara cheaply as Subuddhi Kaushalya’s right-arm seamers clean bowled the opening pair. Experienced last-year players, Uvin Bandara and Akeel Inham got together for the 3rd wicket in the 5th over and they constructed a match-winning stand of 123 runs.
Left-hande Uvin struck 8 boundaries in his superb 96-ball innings of 62 while right-handed Sri Lanka Youth player, Akeel smashed 7 fours in his unbeaten 74 which came in 114 balls. The unfortunate incident occurred when the spectators marred the beauty of the game of cricket when DS Senanayake College needed only 1 run to win.
The big question mark will remain at everyone’s minds on what the administrators would do in the future in order to safe guard Sri Lanka’s traditions and cultures of ‘Big Matches’
Chief Scores:
Mahanama – 175 all out in 50 overs: Thanula Wickramasinghe 45, Dulanjana Senevirathna 22*, Dinuka Karunanda 18, Thimila Vidyasekara 2/19, Harith Madhuwantha 2/16, Sachin Bandara 2/21.
D.S Senanayake – 175/4 in 40.1 overs: Akeel Inham 74*, Uvin Bandara 62, Subuddhi Kaushalya 2/33.
