Seenigama Academy win the inaugural Elephant House Murali Cup
Seenigama Academy won the inaugural Murali Cup last weekend with a brilliant display against Dulwich College in the final at Surrey Village in Maggona. The final was dominated by the sensational batting of Adeesha Thilakshana, who scored a whirlwind 100 not out.
Thilakshana’s hundred, reached of the last ball of the innings after an overthrow, allowed the strong Seenigama XI score 245 for 2 in 35 overs. Dulwich College, the strongest of four English teams in the tournament, were restricted to 59 for 8 before rain stopped play in the 22nd over.
St. Patrick’s College Jaffna, who were invited to participate in the tournament by former captain Kumar Sangakkara, one of the trustees of the Foundation of Goodness (FOG), won the third place play-off against KLCA from Malaysia.
The eight-team schools tournament, which was sponsored by Elephant House, was played over a period of nine days. It was a unique tournament conceived and managed by FOG and Red Dot Tours that was designed to raise funds for a learning and empowerment institute and a new school in Mankulam in Sri Lanka’s north-east.
This exciting development project will provide facilities and services to meet the needs of rural communities and help bridge the gap between these areas and the rest of the country. Serving approximately 50,000 beneficiaries a year, the project will cater to the healthcare, educational, business development, sports and empowerment needs of the local population through programmes of community development, inter-cultural activities and skills exchange.
In-between each team’s five matches, children from each school participated in various community activities within the Seenigama village, including beach cleaning and the painting of classrooms in the local school. Just as importantly, the tournament brought together children from different cultural backgrounds, including the north, central and southern provinces of Sri Lanka, to interact together and forge new friendships.
There were some outstanding performances during the tournament with Pulina Tharanga from Seenigama being named the Player of the Tournament for his 184 runs and 15 wickets. He was presented by Muttiah Muralitharan, a founding partner of the FOG, with a special Reebok bat donated by Mahela Jayawardena.
Other prize winners included Sam Ryan from Bloxham School who was named Batsman of the Tournament for his 233 runs scored at an average of 46.6. The tournament’s leading wicket-taker was spinner Arul Norbet from St Patrick’s College and George Regilaus, also from St. Patricks, was named the best wicket-keeper.
About FOG:
The Foundation of Goodness aims to narrow the gap between urban and rural life in Sri Lanka by tackling poverty through productive activities. Recently recognised as the best example of post-Tsunami disaster-relief work, the Foundation of Goodness’ project in Seenigama provides a holistic model that can be replicated to tackle the problems that face rural villagers throughout Sri Lanka.
About Red Dot:
Red Dot Tours specialises in tailor-made travel to Sri Lanka. The company, which has offices in the UK and Colombo, has cricketing roots having first been conceived as a cricket tour company back in 1999. The Red Dot website, meanwhile, is the leading online travel portal for Sri Lanka providing in-depth information for the independent-minded traveller.
Media Notes:
For all the latest news and information on the Murali Cup 2011, please visit – www.themuralicup.com.
For further information please contact:
Kushil Gunasekara
Tel: +94 1 2586344
Foundation of Goodness Founder/Trustee
Email: [email protected]
Anura de Silva
Foundation of Goodness Director of Sport
Tel: +94 1 5373342
Mobile: +94 779 939 805
Email: [email protected]
