Imperial College wins Red Bull Campus Cricket Sri Lanka Finals

Imperial College Team 

Rohan Sanjaya

Thiwanka Lakruwan

This year, amidst the many challenges that have arisen around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Red Bull has defied the odds and taken the necessary health and safety precautions to ensure a true sporting tradition lives on. 

As such, Red Bull has once more hosted the ninth edition of Red Bull Campus Cricket (RBCC), giving young, aspiring sportsmen the ideal opportunity to represent their campus and country on an international field.

The first leg of the local tournament kicked off this March, held at the BRC grounds in Colombo, culminating in an exciting semi-finals on Saturday, with the finals held yesterday. 

The tournament has seen the participation of 12 college-level Sri Lankan teams, namely Central Campus Colombo, Kotelawala Defense University (KDU), ESOFT, Royal Institute of Colombo, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, Imperial College, Sri Lanka Institute of Management, SAEGIS, ICON Business School, Sri Lanka Technological Campus, ACBT, and ICBT Campus.

Battling their way to the semi-finals was the Central Campus Colombo (CCC) team who triumphed over SAEGIS in the quarter-finals, winning by 9 runs. At the semi-finals stage, they played against SLIM, who had defeated the SLIIT team in the quarter-finals, winning by 5 wickets. Of the two talented teams, CCC emerged victorious, winning by a whopping eight wickets. 

Heshan Dhanushka emerged as the star player for CCC, bringing home 55 runs, closely followed by Chamindu Wijesinghe, and Deshan Fernando, who took one of the team’s two wickets in 17 deliveries. Meanwhile, Kanishka Uggalpaya emerged as the star player from SLIM, scoring 51 of their 124 runs during the semi-finals match.  

As the day drew to a close, the highly anticipated second semi-final was held, between Imperial College and ESOFT. The Imperial College team fought their way to the semis by defeating the ACBT team, followed by the KDU team during the quarter-finals, winning by two wickets. Meanwhile, ESOFT made its way to the semis by triumphing over SLTC, and was awarded a walk-over by the ICBT team during the quarter-finals. 

The second semi-final match resulted in a victory for Imperial College, who won by five wickets, as ESOFT was bowled out in 19.5 overs. Sajith Priyal emerged as the star player for Imperial College, having scored 53 runs. Other noteworthy players of this match include Pawantha Weerasinghe, who scored 32 runs, and Neranjana Wanniarachchi, who took two wickets in 22 deliveries.

ESOFT’s star players include Raminda Wijesooriya and Kavindu Irosh, who both secured 31 runs each, along with Pawantha Weerasinghe and Ayesh Harshana, who both took three wickets each. 

As such, in a highly unanticipated twist, the semi-finals saw two teams who are new to the RBCC playing field emerge victorious. CCC and Imperial College battled it out at the BRC grounds in an exciting final match the following day. Imperial College took the trophy home, winning by one wicket. 

The Man of the Series was Chamindu Wijesinghe from CCC, with a total of 42 runs and nine wickets under his belt. Ayesh Harshana from the winning team, Imperial College, was another star player, who scored 11 runs and took nine wickets throughout the tournament. Another outstanding player was Nipun Malinga, from CCC, with 35 runs and eight wickets under his belt. 

The RBCC field has truly paved the way for young sportsmen to gain recognition on an international platform. Enriching this tradition even further, Red Bull is now gearing up to launch its very first RBCC Women’s Tournament later this year, celebrating women’s sports and taking yet another leap to show the world that #BigGirlsCan. 

As the local leg draws to a close, it is certain that Red Bull has once more achieved its longstanding goal, bridging the gap that exists for players between school and club teams. With its abundance of emerging talent, the victorious Imperial College team will go on to represent Sri Lanka on the international field at the RBCC World Finals to be held later in Oman this year. 

Runner-Up Central Campus Colombo

Chamindu Wijesinghe from Central Campus Colombo

Imperial College Team