Engineers are
renowned for their technical intelligence and competency in design and
analysis. Civil Engineering too has the same base; it is an art entangled in a
triangle of technology, design and innovation. Even though the social
perspective towards an engineer is basically based on the above mentioned
statement, it is not entirely true.” Civil Engineers playing cricket” would alter
the above mentioned misconception that has been embedded in society. The Civil
Engineering Society of University of Moratuwa has initiated many events to
encourage undergraduates to get involved in different extracurricular
activities and the annual cricket tournament is one such event.
This year
the tournament was coordinated by the students of Level four. Early in the
morning, on 27th of July 2013, the tournament commenced with the sole intention
of enhancing the fraternity among the three levels. The event was organized by
the CES in collaboration with students from level two and level four. Level
four students looked into the integration and coordination of the flow of
events while publicity and ground arrangement work were handled by level two students.
There were three
women's teams as usual; one from each batch, and the three levels had two men’s
teams from each batch as well. As per tradition, there were two additional
teams to make the tournament more entertaining and enjoyable; the
"President's Team" and the Lecturers' Team. All the matches were
planned to be conducted in a league basis, and the winning
and qualifying teams were selected
according to the run rate. The matches were played in two
groups, each group
consisting of four teams. Group A had, level 2-A, level 3-A, level 4-B and the
team of lecturers while group B had level 2-B, level 3-B, level 4-A and the
president’s team.
The two
best teams of each group procured the opportunity to enter into semifinals and
eventually the two winning teams of each semi were to compete for the
championship.
The
presence of the lecturers was highly appreciated and CES wishes to extend a
special gratitude to the lecturers; Dr. Jagath Manathunga, Dr. Rangika
Halwathura, Dr. Udeni Nawagamuwa, Dr. Mahesh Jayaweera, Dr. Nalin De Silva, Dr.
Lalith Rajapaksha, Dr. Lesly Ekanayake, Mr. Loshaka Perera, Mr. Bamunawala, Mr.
Wasantha Pushpakumara and Mr. Buddhika, who sacrificed their time to be a part
of this tournament.
The first
stage matches were held within each group and level 3-A and level 4-A from the
two respective groups of A and B had outstanding performances from the
beginning itself. In group A, level 3-A and level 2-A were selected for
semifinals.
There was tough competition among teams
in group B, so the atmosphere became very
tense and
competitive. Eventually the president’s team and the level 4-A team were chosen
for semifinals according to the run rate. The first semifinal was between the
teams; level 2-A from group A and level 4-A from group B. It was victoriously
ended by the level 4-A team leaving the level 4 students in anticipation of an
overall victory. The second semifinal match was played between the level 3-A
team and the president’s team. This match concluded adorning level 3 students’
faces with bright smiles as they too got the opportunity to compete for the
championship.
The
attraction for the women’s teams was intense as ever. Throughout the
tournament, the level three girls’ team performed exceptionally well, and their
talents were highlighted not
only in batting and
bowling but also in fielding. The synergy of the team was reinforced by the
special talents shown by Heshani Godage and Dulshani Wickramasinghe, who played
as opening batswomen.
Although the finals started with the fading sun light, the joy and the
cheerfulness did not vanish in the dusk. All were so attentive and cheering,
jeering and supporting their team members and praying for victory.
The match
was limited to six overs and the toss was won by the level 4-A team. They
invited the opponents to bat first and the opponents scored 107 runs at the end
of their innings with five wickets remaining. The real competitiveness jutted
out when the level 4-A team started the follow up. The first wicket of the team
fell at the very beginning of the innings bringing dismay and disappointment to
the students of level 4. However Lalitha Prasanga’s wizardry performance
lopsided the speculations that were made with the fall of the first wicket.
Along with his partner, he managed to bring the team's total to a 106 within 23
balls and crowned the team with rays of triumph.
The best women's player of the tournament was none other than the
opening batswoman and the bowler of the women’s team of level 3; Heshani Godage
had two half centuries in the two matches played. Lalitha Prasanga was chosen
and named unanimously as the best batsman for
the 225 runs scored
inclusive of a century while Ravihansa Suraweera was awarded as the best bowler
of the tournament. He had 6 wickets within 7 overs for 42 runs.
The women’s
championship was taken away by the team from level 3; a well deserved victory
as they won both the matches they played. At the end of the day, the trophy for
the overall championship was proudly held by the captain of level 4-A team with
an open invitation for everybody to take part in their team celebrations.
