Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium
Encyclopedia
Dambulla International Cricket Stadium is a 30,000 seat cricket
stadium in Sri Lanka
. The Stadium is situated in the Central Province, close to Dambulla
on a 60 acre (240,000 m²) site leased from the Rangiri Dambulla Temple. The stadium is built overlooking the Dambulla Tank (reservoir) and the Dambulla Rock.
and the contractors. International cricket finally returned in May 2003, the venue staging all seven matches of the tournament because of monsoon
rains in the south.
The pitch is bowler friendly. Seamers benefit in the morning because of the high water table and heavy sweating. Spinners benefit in the afternoon when the pitch can crumble.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
stadium in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. The Stadium is situated in the Central Province, close to Dambulla
Dambulla
The city of Dambulla is situated in the Matale District in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, situated 148 km north-east of Colombo and 72 km north of Kandy....
on a 60 acre (240,000 m²) site leased from the Rangiri Dambulla Temple. The stadium is built overlooking the Dambulla Tank (reservoir) and the Dambulla Rock.
History
The inaugural One Day International (ODI) match was played between Sri Lanka and England in March 2001. Floodlights were installed in 2003.The ground
Situated in the dry zone, the original rationale behind the project was that it provided Sri Lanka with the potential to host one-day matches throughout the year. Construction was funded by the Board of Control for Cricket in Srilanka (BCCSL) and championed by the then BCCSL President, Thilanga Sumathipala. Construction took only 167 days. After construction and the inaugural match it sat idle due to complications with the leaseLease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
and the contractors. International cricket finally returned in May 2003, the venue staging all seven matches of the tournament because of monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
rains in the south.
The pitch is bowler friendly. Seamers benefit in the morning because of the high water table and heavy sweating. Spinners benefit in the afternoon when the pitch can crumble.
One Day International
- The highest ODI total at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium is 385/7 by Pakistan against Bangladesh on June 21, 2010.
- The lowest ODI total is 88 by England against Sri Lanka on November 18, 2003 and by India against New Zealand on August 10, 2010.
- Mahela JayawardeneMahela JayawardeneDenagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene , known as Mahela Jayawardene, is the former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team. He is a specialist batsman who has a Test average of over 50, and an ODI average in the 30s...
has scored 1076 runs and is the highest by a single player at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. - The highest individual score at stadium is 124 by Shahid AfridiShahid AfridiSahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi , popularly known as Shahid Afridi , is a Pakistani cricketer. Between 1996 and 2011, Afridi played 27 Tests, 325 One Day Internationals, and 43 Twenty20 Internationals for the Pakistani national team...
against Bangladesh in the 2009-2010 season. - Muttiah MuralitharanMuttiah MuralitharanMuttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...
with 42 scalps has captured the most number of wickets at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. - The best bowling figures recorded at the stadium is 5/23 by Muttiah Muralitharan.