Imperial College clinch thrilling grand finale
Celebrating the thrilling victory
Imperial College of Business Studies recorded a thrilling 1-wicket win against Central Campus Colombo (CCC) in the final of the Red Bull Campus Cricket 2021 National Finals played at the BRC ground in Colombo last weekend. Batting first CCC scored 135-8 and Imperial College clinched a last-ball victory by reaching 139-9 to book the berth of the International Round, which will be played towards the end of this year.
Opener Avishka Perera top scored for CCC with a 36-ball 47, which included four boundaries and two sixes and Rohan Sanjaya remained unbeaten on 38 off 17 deliveries with a four and four sixes to lift up their total. Kavindu Chathuranga made 18 off 19 balls with a six while Rusiru Dineth, Revan Kelly and Sajith Priyal claimed two wickets each.
For Imperial College Thiwanka Lakruan top scored with 39 off 18 deliveries inclusive of a boundary and five sixes and Tharindu Roshan raked in 30 from 25 balls with a six.
Sajith Priyal and M. Rodrigo scored 16 runs apiece for the winners, who sealed the win in the last ball of the final over. Chamindu Wijesinghe picked three scalps while Navod Paranavithana and Rohan Sanjaya bowled economically to claim two wickets each.
The Man of the Series award went to Chamindu Wijesinghe of CCC for scoring a total of 42 runs and taking nine wickets in the tournament. Ayesh Harshana of Imperial College also claimed a tally of nine wickets while Nipun Malinga also collected 35 runs and took eight wickets for CCC.
In the first semi-final CCC beat SLIM by 8 wickets while Imperial College easily romped to victory with a 5-wicket win against Esoft in the second semi-final. The two victorious sides became the best out of the lot of 12 teams that competed in the four-day tournament.
Electing to field, CCC restricted SLIM to 124 for the loss of 9 wickets and chased down the target only losing two of their batsmen and with 14 deliveries to spare as Chamindu Wijesinghe stood out with his allround performance for the winners. He claimed four important wickets and returned with an unbeaten knock of 36 to make an important contribution to his team’s win.
Kanishka Uggalpaya top scored for SLIM but the performance of CCC bowlers Wijesinghe and Nipun Malinga stole the limelight from him. Uggalpaya made 51, but Wijesinghe and Malinga were more effective in their task to claim four scalps each and limit SLIM to 124/9.
In their run-chase, CCC lost couple of early wickets but Heshan Dhanushka and Wijesinghe ensured their team reach the victory post without losing further wickets. Dhanushka remained unbeaten on 55, becoming the top scorer of the game, while Wijesinghe’s 36 not out was as important as his partner’s.
In the second qualifier Imperial recorded a comfortable victory against Esoft, who were totally outplayed by their opponents in all departments largely due to an allround contribution from Pawantha Weerasinghe.
Esoft could not live up to their expectations after deciding to bat first, as they were bowled out for 139 with a delivery remaining in their innings. Raminda Wijesuriya and Kavindu Irosh made identical scores of 31, as the latter remained unbeaten while Weerasinghe and Ayesh Harshana grabbed three wickets each.
Imperial lost five wickets on their way to victory, which was achieved with 25 deliveries to spare. Sajith Priyal top scored for the winners with 53 runs and Weerasinghe’s contribution with the bat was 32. Neranjan Wanniarachchi claimed two wickets for Esoft.
Bringing together talented players from around the country, this year’s local leg had 12 college-level teams participating, namely — Central Campus Colombo, Kotelawala Defense University, ESOFT, Royal Institute of Colombo, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, Imperial College, Sri Lanka Institute of Management, SAEGIS, ICON Business School, Sri Lanka Technological Campus, ACBT and ICBT Campus. The World Finals of Red Bull Campus Cricket 2021 will be held in Oman, later this year, where the Sri Lankan team who emerges as the local winner will gain the opportunity to represent the country on a coveted, international field.
The international tournament has, over the years, transformed the lives of many young, aspiring cricketers around the world. Remaining true to what they stand for; fueling the sporting spirit of the body and mind, Red Bull has been able to overcome numerous obstacles that have arisen around the world with the COVID-19 pandemic, to take necessary precautions and host the ninth edition of Red Bull Campus Cricket, thus making it possible for young sportsmen to battle it out on the field for the victory of representing both their campus and country.
Red Bull pioneered Red Bull Campus Cricket with the aim of bridging the gap that exists for players between school teams to club teams. Years in, Red Bull Campus Cricket has now become a scouting ground for young and talented players to catch the eye of selectors from the national team as well, giving wings to cricketing talent all over the island.
The champions - Imperial College
This international tournament provides the ideal opportunity for aspiring cricketers to represent their university and further gain an opportunity to represent their country at an
international cricketing spectacle, the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals. Indeed, the tournament has seen the rise of acclaimed sportsmen such as Niroshan Dickwella in 2017, Chamika Karunaratne in 2018, and numerous players from other countries.
Over the years, Sri Lanka has remained host to the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals for 2016, 2017, and 2018. Following the hosting of the very first Asia Finals in 2012, the first ever World Finals were held at the R. Premadasa Cricket Stadium in 2013.