Established in the Central Province, overlooking the Dambulla Tank and the Dambulla Rock; Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium is counted amongst the most significant cricket grounds. The ground is expanded across 60-acre land leased from the Rangiri Dambulla Temple. The idea behind building the ground was to provide a venue to conduct one-day matches throughout the year. The construction took only 167 days, and the ground officially opened its gates in 2000. The ground's pitch is considered as the first choice of bowlers as it provides soothing soil to seamers in the morning with a high water table and to spinners in the afternoon when it can crumble.
Trivia
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium is the only cricket ground in the dry zone of Sri Lanka.
From 2013 to late 2016, the stadium hosted Day matches only.
Significance
The stadium hosted its inaugural ODI match in March 2001 between Sri Lanka and England.
The ground hosted the first day-night ODI match on 28th August 2016 against Australia. It was the final ODI match of prominent cricketer of Sri Lanka Tillakaratne Dilshan.
The ground witnessed Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga's 200th ODI match on 20th August 2017.
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