The 66th Battle of the Golds cricket encounter between Moratu Vidyalaya and Sri Sumangala College was ended in a draw today as Moratu Vidyalaya took major honours in the drawn game at De Soyza Cricket Stadium in Moratuwa.
Nipuna Deshan, the skipper of Sri Sumangala College won the toss and opted to field first. Moratu Vidyalaya managed to post 210 runs for 9 wickets before the skipper Shehada Fernando decided to declare their first innings. Chamika Fernando top scored with brilliant 97 runs while the skipper Fernando made 44 runs for the lads from Moratuwa.
Anuka Jayasinghe, the best bowler of Sumangala College this season, excelled again in the crunch game picking up 4 wickets for 54 runs. In addition, Nipuna Deshan and Tharana de Silva picked up 2 wickets each for the Panadura boys.
In reply, Sri Sumangala College could not impress with the bat as they were bundled out for 140 runs for their first innings. Isuru Umayanga (48) and Anjana Maduwantha (25) top scored for the lads from Panadura. Eran Hansamal, Nadith Michendra and Prashan Fernando picked up 3 wickets each for Moratuwa boys.
Moratu Vidyalaya began their second innings 70 runs ahead and managed to post 120 runs for 4 wickets before declaring the innings. Nishan Fernando who represented Sri Lanka U-19 in the recently concluded world cup, top scored for Moratuwa lads with 57 runs while Chamika Fernando who starred in the first innings made another important contribution with the bat scoring 49 runs.
Chasing 191 runs to win the match, Sri Sumangala College got off to a flying start but managed to post only 71 runs for 1 wicket in 12 overs as umpires called stumps on day two.
Brief Scores
Moratu Vidyalaya, Moratuwa 210/9d (84) Chamalka Fernando 97, Shehada Fernando 44, Anuka Jayasinghe 4/54, Nipuna Deshan 2/27, Tharana de Silva 2/36 & 120/4d (32.3) Nishan Fernando 57, Chamika Fernando 49, Harshana Fernando 2/14
Sri Sumangala College, Panadura 140 (58.1) Isuru Umayanga 48, Anjana Maduwantha 25, Eran Hansamal 3/17, Nadith Michendra 3/28, Prashan Fernando 3/33 & 71/1 (12) Isuru Umayanga 36, Harshana Fernando 25*
