The legendary Sri Lankan cricket team of 96 took the field for a worthy cause today against the Sri Lanka legends team at the NCC grounds.
The 1996 world cup winning side led by ‘Captain Cool’ himself kept their record intact beating their oppoinents by 7 wickets.
It was the Sri Lanka legends XI led by Sidath Wettamuni which came out to bat first with the skipper himself opening the batting together with Hemantha Devapriya. The duo put on a brisk 46 runs for the first wicket before Devapriya (30) gave a catch straight back to Upul Chandana who came in to bowl after the initial spell was bowled by Chaminda Vass, Ravindra Pushpakumara, and Pramodya Wickramasinghe.
The Sri Lanka legends XI after a super start failed to capitalized as they stumbled to 95/4 with Sidath Wettamuni, Brandon Kuruppu and Hemantha Wickramarathne being dismissed in quick succession. Former Sri Lankan fast bowler Eric Upashantha joined Chamara Silva at the crease during the middle overs to repair the damage with the former scoring a hard hitting 24 runs while Silva ended his innings with an unbeaten 23 runs.
The lower order consisting of Ashoka de Silva and Sanjeewa Weerasinghe were the last to be dismissed with scores of 5 and 3 respectively to their names. The Legends team managed to get 137/6 runs wit Upul Chandana grabbing 2 wickets.
Then came out the time for the team of 1996 to wield the willow bringing nostalgia and lump in the throat to all present. What a sight it was to see the old pair of ‘Pocket Rocket’ Romesh Kaluwitharana and ‘Master Blaster’ Sanatha Jayasuriya walk on to the pitch one more time. Jayasuriya however was not fully fit and requested a runner early on. He was the first man to be dismissed when the score was on 16 runs off the bowling of Ashoka de Silva. The crowd favourite, Asanka Gurusinghe took his customary place next having come back from down under after years of exhile to the delight of many present. He showed glimpses of his golden days hitting a six over cover off the bowling of Kapila Wijeygoonawardene. His innings was short but not that sweet for the bowling team as he raced to 13 runs before getting out to Ashoka de Silva who claimed his 2nd wicket of the innings.
World cup hero and audacious, Aravinda de Silva could only managed to get 1 run as Ashoka de Silva grabbed his third of the day with his crafty leg breaks. Kaluwitharana was joined by skipper Arjuna Ranatunge, and together put on a match winning partnership. Kalu was in sublime form hitting at will reaching a well worked half ton while Ranatunge retired after getting 37 runs off just 28 ball which included 2 maximums.
Kaluwitharana 52 was inclusive of 2 sixes and 8 fours. He retired letting the next batsman have a turn with the bat. The famous combination of Roshan Mahanama and Hashan Thillakaratne then came in to the middle and finished things off with 35 balls to spare. Roshan Mahanama served as the brand ambassador for the big hearts project. Kalu with his unbeaten half century grabbed the man of the match award.
It was a match which was not to be missed, a game which baught back many memories and pride. The event brought together a large number of spectators which swamped the NCC grounds to get a glimpse of their hero’s who did the country proud in Lahore in 1996
Long may they prosper – Thank you Arjuna and the boys for the memories that will forever be etched in our minds
Sri Lanka winning team of 1996
Sri Lanka Legends XI
