Big Match trophy returns to Sri Devananda after 56 years
Sri Devananda College tasted the first victory of the Battle of the Blues of Ambalangoda in 56 years after Dharmasoka College principal and the Cricket Committee of that school intervened to award the trophy to them following mayhem that prevented the 53rd Big Match from lasting the full distance at Ambalangoda.
Chasing a target of 98 runs to win Sri Devananda lost their seventh wicket when they were just 13 runs behind victory. With the players uprooting the stumps at the fall of the seventh wicket and the fans entering the field, resumption of the decisive stage was not possible immediately. That was when Dharmasoka College Principal Sanuja Jayawickrama and the officials of the Cricket Committee intervened to award the match to Sri Devananda.
The school had not won the Big Match since the team led by N.U. Amaradasa won the match way back in 1966. Dharmasoka won the match last in 2019.
In their chase, the team led by Shehan Wickramasinghe lost six wickets for 49 runs before Irusha Akash and Ranusha de Silva combined to form a decisive stand for the seventh wicket. Akash scored 36 runs inclusive of two sixes and two fours, while De Silva was not out on 19 runs.When Dharmasoka batted first Wanith de Silva and Hasindu Praboda took four wickets each to contain them to 204 runs.
In their essay, Sri Devananda lost their first wicket for naught before Kanchana de Livera took the bull by the horns to smash 98 runs in 58 balls (12x4s, 5x6s) as he provided a strong stand with Chamod de Silva. Later, half-centuries by Lasindu Lakshan and Kaveesha Kalpana powered them to their eventual total.
In their second essay, Dharmasoka posted 207 runs with Senitha Helambage and Maneesha Rashmika scoring 40s.
Kaveesha Kalpana, who took three wickets in the second innings and scored 64 runs, won the Man of the Match award. The other award winners were Kanchana de Livera (Best Batsman), Wanith de Silva (Best Bowler) and Randul Samaraweera (Best Fielder).
