The much-awaited Battle of the Golds between St. Sebastian’s College (Sebs) and Prince of Wales College (Cambrians) cricket teams in the UAE was held at Eagles ground Sharjah under flood lights on October 8, 2022 after a two and a half year break.
Sebs batted first and scored 156 for 8 wickets off 20 overs.
Nimesha Dushan, Prasantha Soysa, Matheesha Perera and Shevindra Fernando all made double figures at the top of the innings but could not convert them to 30s.
The Cambrians were restricted to 131 in their 20 overs leaving Sebs winners comfortably by 25 runs.
The opening spells by Newanjana Wijemanne and Brian Paul were special. The two most experienced campaigners for Sebs Shevindra Fernando and Jayashan Perera made sure that they kept the Cambrians batsmen under control. Jayashan Perera ended up with figures of 3 for 24 runs in his four overs that earned him the Player of the Match award.
Cambrians bowler Supun Silva captured 3 for 15 runs in his four overs earning him the Best Bowler’s award and some late hard-hitting from Cambrian skipper Lahiru Vindika earned him the Best Batsman’s award. The Best Fielder award was shared by Ashan Jayasooriya and Shevindra Fernando from Sebs.
The first ever Battle of the Golds in UAE was played in 2013.
Principals of the respective schools, the late Rev. Fr. Bonnie Fernandopulle and J.W.S. Siriwardena were invited as Chief Guests to grace the event during the battles of the Golds held in the year 2014/2015.
The series in UAE stands at 5-2 with Sebs leading.