Sporting declaration or committing hara-kiri?

S. Thomas’ College regained the Rt. Hon. D.S. Senanayake Memorial Shield after six years - winning the 146th Battle of the Blues encounter by five wickets on Saturday courtesy of what has been widely described as a 'sporting declaration' from their arch rivals Royal College. 

Royal College declared their second innings at 215-8 setting up Thomians a run chase of 233 in 42 overs - a modest target on a Day 3 wicket at the Sinahalese Sports Club (SSC) which probably is Sri Lanka's best batting turf.

While majority of the fans and media have jumped to Royal College's defence over what has been made to look like a brave call, it appears that the boys from the Reid Avenue didn't really read the situation.

Thomians were the only team that desperately needed to win the game to regain the Shield as a draw would have seen Royal retaining it, but then they opted to commit hara-kiri. 

Thomians would have tried to chase down a total of over 240 even in 25-30 overs because that's the only way the Shield could return to Mount Lavinia, but that extra pressure of having to score runs at a higher rate would have brought about more wickets. If they had made up their mind to block everything and settle for a draw, it wouldn't have been too bad for Royal either, but then Royal made the declaration at 215 for 8, which only became a 'sporting declaration' after the Thomians scored the winning run. 

The game being played at the SSC though brings back memories of an interesting Test match that took place at the same venue 16 years ago. 

It was Sri Lanka versus Pakistan with Sri Lanka needing 101 runs to win the third Test on the final hour with well-set captain Kumar Sangakkara not out on 130 in a partnership worth 114 runs for the fifth wicket with big-hitting Angelo Mathews at the other end on 64. At 391 for 4 going into the final hour chasing a massive target of 492 Sri Lanka had TM Dilshan (who though had a slight injury), Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilina Thushara, and Rangana Herath - a man who ended his Test career with a batting average of 15 playing as the last man. 

It would have been a dream run chase - great for the fans and media, but captain Sangakkara - one of game's great thinkers - opted to settle for a draw and stated in the post-match presentation they would have 'considered' chasing it had they scored more runs after tea on the final day. Only Royal College would have chosen to chase it and conceded the game inside 30 minutes - then call it a 'sporting defeat'.