SHARJAH: The old boys of St. Sebastian’s beat their counterparts from Prince of Wales comprehensively to take home all the trophies in their annual ‘Battle of the Golds’ which was held on March 23 Al Battayah Grounds, Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
The main event of the day was the T20 ‘Big Match’ which saw a high scoring encounter between the olds boys of both sides, with each team scoring over 200.
Taking first lease of the wicket, the St. Sebastian’s’ battling line-up unleashed a run spree, scoring a mammoth 253 with Umesh Costa, the school’s former basketball captain scoring 97 and Shavindra Fernando scoring 47. The Cambrians’, however, put up a spirited response and reached 200 in their allotted 20 overs. While it was a good score the Cambrians were constantly under pressure, failing to get on top of the rival bowling attack and eventually falling short by just over 50 runs.
Thereafter, St. Sebastian’s bagged the Veterans (Over 40) – trophy under the captaincy of Shane Rodrigo. As the fun-filled day continued to unfold, the wives of the alumni battled for the ladies trophy, which again was won by the Sebastianites led by Shani Peiris.
Despite the clean sweep by the Sebastianites the ultimate winner was the friendship and camaraderie that prevailed between the alumni of the two schools from Moratuwa that are within 100 meters of each other with only the Lunawa lagoon dividing them.
Sebastianites now boast of a 4-1 record in this 5 year-old encounter in the UAE, having won the annual battle in the last three successive years while Cambrians won the inaugural fixture in 2014. This annual event will continue to be a bridge that will help further strengthen the ties between these two schools in the years ahead..
