This article is about Sri Sumangala College–Moratu Maha Vidyalaya Cricket Encounter. For Prince of Wales–St. Sebastian's Cricket Encounter, see Battle of the Golds (Moratuwa).
Battle of the Golds (Also known as Sri Sumangala College - Moratu Maha Vidyalaya Cricket Encounter) is an annual Big Match played between Sri Sumangala College and Moratu Maha Vidyalaya since 1934.[1] It is known as The Battle of the Golds due to the colours of the two schools' flags i.e. Green, Gold and Blue of Sri Sumangala College and Maroon, Gold & Maroon of Moratu Maha Vidyalaya.
History
The first encounter between the two schools dates back to 1934. The first match in the sequence was played in 1934 under the captain, W. Lionel Fernando of Sri Sumangala College[2] and H. N. Samarasinghe of Moratu Maha Vidyalaya.[3] The first victory for Sumangalians was in 1962 under the Captaincy of P. P. Silva while the first victory for Moraliyans was in 1956 under the Captaincy of T. Hapugoda. Of the 72 big matches played between the two schools until 2024, Sumangalians has won 08 and Moraliyans 07, with the rest being declared draw.[2]
The first victory for Sumangalians was in 1962 under the captaincy of S. Sigera while
the first victory for Moraliyans was in 1956 under the captaincy of T. Hapugoda.
The last time Sri Sumangala College won the Battle of the Golds was in 2007 under
the captaincy of Iresh Pushpakumara and for Moratu Maha Vidyalaya it was in 2010
under the captaincy of Anuruddhika Kalhara.
Among the many successes of Sri Sumangala College, Iresh Pushpakumara’s 08 wickets in an inning in 2007 big match is the best bowling figure so far in the history and Roshan Wimalasena’s 153 in 1996 in the highest score in the history.[2] In 1981 big match Ravin Wickramaratne set another record by scoring an unbeaten 104 runs and taking 5 wickets with a hat trick.[2] Interestingly, Wickramarathna has also been elected as the Vice President of Sri Lanka Cricket in the recent past, from his previous tenure as Assistant Secretary.[4] A few other victories for Sumangalians include 1975 Captain Tissa Eleperuma representing Ceylon Team before the test status was granted,[2] 1983 Captain Don Anurasiri[5] being the first Sumangalian to present Sri Lanka's test cricket team, who was subsequently followed by 1995 Captain Indika Gallage and 2001 Captain Dilruwan Perera. In 2023,
2023 captain Vishwa Lahiru was selected to represent the Sri Lanka U19 National
Team and in 2024 in the U19 World Cup.
A few other remarkable cricketers in the local playing field who began their cricketing career at Sri Sumangala include, Kaushal Silva before playing for St Thomas's College; Kithuruwan Vithanage before joining Royal College, Colombo and U13 and U15 Captain Oshada Fernando before joining St Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa. While Kithruwan Vithanage earned his spot in the Sri Lanka team from 2013-2016, Kaushal Silva and Oshada Fernando are still a part of the Sri Lankan team.
Moratu Maha Vidyala holds the unique record of becoming the one and only school
in Sri Lanka which has produced national cricketers both in men's and women's
categories. Sarath Fernando and Bernard Perera of Moratu Maha Vidyalaya
represented the nation before Sri Lanka obtained the test status.
Ajantha Mendis from Moratu Maha Vidyalaya who reintroduced mystery to spin
bowling was the first test player to represent Sri Lanka followed by Nishan Madushka. Further, former Sri Lankan player, Hasantha Fernando played up to under 15 in Moratu Maha Vidyalaya and Lucky Roger represented the Sri Lankan under-19 team in 1988. Inoshi Fernando and Upeksha Thabrew represented the nation in women's cricket who are old girls of Moratu Maha Vidyalaya.
The one day encounters, which began 28 years ago in 1993,[2] have resulted in 16 victories for Sumangalians, 12 for Moraliyans, 02 matches where no decision was taken and a match not played in 2001 and 2021 (Due to COVID).[3]
