COLOMBO – Royal College won three out of the four special awards which were presented at the conclusion of the 144th Battle of the Blues Inter-School Big Match against the traditional rivals S. Thomas’ College, at the SSC Grounds in Maitland Place on Saturday.
Royal defeated S. Thomas’ by 180 runs with almost a session to spare and retained the Rt. Hon. D. S. Senanayake Shield after a lapse of seven years having last emerged victorious in 2016 under the captaincy of Geeshanth Panditharatne.
Royal Skipper Dasis Manchanayake won the biggest prize – the Man-of-the-Match award for his record breaking batting performance and for leading the team towards a memorable triumph.
The elegant left-hander rewrote Big Match history by becoming the first victorious Royal Captain to score a century and a half century in the same encounter.
Manchanayake and debutant Ramiru Perera were associated in a record partnership of 229 runs that shattered the previous all-time fifth wicket stand of 187 runs held by the Thomian pair of legendary P. I. Peiris (123) and Geoff Wijesinghe (64) in the 1953 encounter.
In addition, Manchanayake ended a 27 year drought by becoming the first Royal Captain to make a hundred since Anushka Polonowita scored a century in the 1996 Big Match.
Meanwhile, Royal’s promising Ramiru Perera was named Best batsman for his magnificent innings of 128, which helped his team reach a formidable 326 after they had slumped to 63 for four at one stage.
Royal’s Uvindu Weerasekera was selected as the Best Fielder for his outstanding efforts throughout the game while Thomian fast bowler Akash Fernando won the Best Bowler award for a matchbag of eight wickets.
