Right handed middle order batsman Chandula Jayamanne from St. Peter’s college hammered a sensational 116 runs to add sparkle to day 1 of the 80th Battle of the Saints between St. Joseph’s college and St. Peter’s college worked out at P. Sara Oval grounds.
After the overnight rain, the pitch had bit moisture earlier on and the Josephian skipper Dylan Fernandopulle won the toss and elected to field first on a lovely day for cricket. The Peterite opening pair of Dineth Thimodya and Hashan Wanasekara shrugged off the early movement by the Josephian fast bowlers but the in-form Dineth Thimodya lost his composure in the 7th over when he chipped a cover drive straight to mid-off when the score was 27. Hashan Wanasekara fell to the bowling of Hashindra Perera in the 12th over and the Peterites were on the back foot with the score board reading 44 for 2.
The 3rd wicket partnership blossomed for the College from Bambalapitiya as Janith Liyanage and Chandula Jayamanne batted positively as they bludgeoned the Josephian bowling attack to all parts of the ground. The two right hand aggressive batsmen maneuvered the strike with ease and the Josephian spinners failed to curtail the run flow as Chandula and Janith scored runs at a brisk speed. St. Peter’s ended the first session as the clear winners of the first two and half hours as they went into the lunch break on 157 for 2.
After Lunch, Chandula Jayamanne and Janith Liyanage accomplished a record partnership of 151 runs for the 3rd wicket before vice captain Janith Liyanage was trapped lbw by Yashan Samarasinghe after making a superb 80 runs. Chandula Jayamanne continued to steer the innings as he reached a memorable century with a single to deep extra cover.
With the maximum of 60 overs rule in the first innings, the Peterites started looking for quick runs and triggered a minor collapse as the lower middle order and the tail end batsmen found Aravinda Akurugoda’s leg spinners difficult to negotiate. Centurion Chandula Jayamanne departed after a stroking a well compiled 116 runs in 131 balls with 9 delightful boundaries and 5 crisp sixes. Aravinda Akurugoda cleaned out the Peterite tail to end the St. Peter’s first innings on 282 all out in 59.2 overs. Right arm leg spinner Aravinda Akurugoda returned to the dressing room with impressive figures of 6 for 75.
The Josephians resumed their batting essay after the tea break. Captain Dylan Fernandopulle miscued a cover drive and fell before troubling the scores. One drop batsman and the star player of the Josephian outfit Sadeera Samarawickrama started his master class innings with a few elegant cover drives and hook shots to entertain the crowd. Yashan Samarasinghe was clean bowled by Janith Liyanage for 8 runs when the Josephian score was only 39.
The 3rd wicket partnership of Sadeera Samarawickrama and Pathum Madusanka batted with grit and played an intelligent batting effort to keep the Peterites at bay before bad light forced the umpires to call off play at around 4.30pm with over 20 overs left. Sadeera Samarawickrama and Pathum Madusanka remained unbeaten on 62 and 17 respectively.
Sadeera’s 57 ball knock of 62 runs comprised of 10 stunning boundaries.
The Peterites will be determined to get the remaining 8 Josephian wickets tomorrow before the 182 runs mark to enforce the follow on if not another draw is likely with heavy rains to intervene the play in the latter part of the day.
Match will be continued tomorrow starting at 9.30am.
Chief Scores :
SPC (1st inn) – 282 all out in 59.2 overs : Chandula Jayamanne 116, Janith Liyanage 80, Chemila Obeysekara 20, Aravinda Akurugoda 6/75….
SJC (1st inn) – 92 for 2 in 21.3 overs : Sadeera Samarawickrama 62*, Pathum Madusanka 17*…
