It was fortunate that the tournament was concluded before COVID-19 pushed many countries into lockdown. The tournament was played at Ellerslie Cricket Club grounds in Auckland with 17 teams representing their schools.
A pandemic, cricket and its people
We are all very well-versed on the escapades of the men performing between the ropes….
The tournament was a brainchild of the founder Dinesh de Silva who held he was inspired by the FOC in the UK, which is a massively successful event among the Lankan cricketers living in the UK. Dinesh has represented his school D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo in the FOC for several years and also been a part of the champions team in 2011. Dinesh has played first-class cricket for Sri Lanka for about a decade and has now moved to New Zealand.
Mahinda College, Galle, St. Joseph’s College, Colombo, St. Anthony’s College, Katugasthota and Zahira College Colombo reached the semifinals of the tournament where Zahira College and St. Anthony’s College advanced to the finals.
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To the surprise of many, Zahira College emerged champions of the tourney beating the Kandy school. M. Hamza of Zahira College was adjudged the man of the finals, while former first-class cricketer Hashan Gunathilake from St. Joseph’s College was the Man of the Tournament.
The tournament was immeasurably aided by the corporate sponsors mostly founded by the expatriate community in New Zealand as well as the organizing committee led by Dinesh and Arjuna Anuradha. Their ambition is to conduct the tournament annually and make it a successful event in New Zealand over time.
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The organizers also managed to raise a sum of LKR Rs. 168385/- which they donated to the daily wage earning families in Sri Lanka who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds were handed to the COVID AID fund endorsed by former cricketing greats Roshan Mahanama and Chaminda Vaas.
Brief Scores
Semi-Finals
Zahira 62/0 (M. Shifaz 31*) beat Mahinda 60/4 (D. Kumarasinghage 27) and SACK 45/4 (Nikith Perera 20*) beat SJC 37/5
Finals
Zahira 62/1 (M. Shifaz 27*, M. Hamza 24*) beat SACK 61/2 (R. Perera 35*)
