The 18th ‘Battle of the Golds’ between Mahanama College and D.S. Senanayake College ended in a draw yesterday (30), leaving a memorable mark in the history of Sri Lanka’s school cricket.  Both schools played absolutely mouth-watering cricket. 

DS skipper Gaviru Senhas was the man of the moment, bagging major honours for his unbeaten 200 runs off just 189 deliveries, earning him the tag ‘Bazball – Lankan edition’ for his explosive batting in a record-breaking double century. The last time a double ton was scored in any big match in Sri Lanka was in 1988. 

This was also the fastest 200 runs in the history of school cricket and the only 200 runs after the year 2000. Gaviru also put on a series record-breaking partnership of 248 runs with his deputy Malitha Perera. In the Mahanama 2nd innings, debutant Dulnith Sigera and Kavindu Amameth scored unbeaten centuries to end the encounter, leaving an everlasting memory in the hearts of every spectator. 

The limited over encounter will be held on 21 April at SSC.

Best Bowler: Akmal Fazly (DS) 

Best Fielder: Ishan Vithanage (MC)

Best Batsman: Gaviru Senhas (DS)

Man of the Match: Gaviru Senhas (DS)

Brief scores 

DS 370/4 (69.2) dec (Gaviru Senhas 200*, Malitha Perera 118, Chamika Heenatigala 2/69, Duvindu Ranathunga 2/80)

Mahanama 239/10 (70.1) – (Dulnith Sigera 63, Inuka Karannagoda 61*, Rashmika Perera 41, Akmal Fazly 5/77, Randisha Bandaranayake 2/45) and 207/0 (32.3) – (Kavindu Amameth 106*, Dulnith Sigera 100*)

Match drawn – DS retains the Aravinda de Silva Challenge Trophy (last won in 2014 under Binura Fernando)