The saints are ready to battle for the 81st time when the two leading catholic schools in Sri Lanka; St. Joseph’s College and St. Peter’s College will test their cricketing skills with the willow and the red leather ball on 6th and 7th of March at P. Sara Oval Stadium.
Two days of entertaining and exciting cricket is on the cards with both teams evenly poised to give out their best shot. The strong Peterite team will start as the favourites due to their recent purple patch while the Josephians can turn the tables around and win the game with their talented outfit. Rich traditions will prevail during this battle as both teams represent their colleges with great pride and honour.
History of the Encounter
Saints will battle hard for the Rev.Fr Maurice Legoc trophy which started way back in 1933 with St. Joseph’s College winning the inaugural clash. Rev.Fr Maurice Legoc has been the rector of both the institutions and the trophy for the ‘Big’ match is named in his honor. He first served at St. Joseph’s College and then went on to become the first rector at St. Peter’s College.
Robert Fernando led St. Joseph’s College in the 1st encounter while George Jayaweera led St. Peter’s College. Eighty matches have been played between these two great cricketing schools and St. Joseph’s College lead the tally with 12 wins while St. Peter’s College have won on 9 occasions. Sixty matches have been concluded as drawn encounters. St. Joseph’s College last won the 74th Battle of the Saints under the leadership of Ruwantha Fernandopulle in 2008 while St. Peter’s College won the 78th Battle of the Saints under Shehan Fernando’s captaincy in 2012.
The highest score in the ‘Battle of the Saints’ series is by St Joseph’s when they made 382 in 1982 and the Josephians were led by Ken Serpanchy while the highest Peterite score was in 1938 under Percy Perera’s leadership where they accumulated 345 runs.
St Peter’s College were bowled out for a paltry score of 36 in 1972 and incidentally that remains as the lowest score in the series and St. Joseph’s lowest score was 56 in 1938. The highest individual score of the series is 204 by Clive Inman which he achieved in 1954 and the best bowling figures for an inning is 9 for 41 by Shenal Warnakula of St Joseph’s in 1997.
During the 2014 encounter, both teams settled for a draw with Chandula Jayamanne scoring a superb century for the Peterites while leg-spinner Aravinda Akurugoda captured a 9-wicket match bag for the Josephians.
Well-gelled Peterite outfit
The team led by batting all-rounder Chandula Jayamanne has been one of the most consistent teams of this season and they have registered 7 outright wins this year and they are a side which hunted down top teams such as Royal College, Trinity College. The boys from Bambalapitiya have top performers with the bat such as wicket-keeper batsman, Lakshina Rodrigo, opener Dineth Thimodya and middle order batsman Sachin Dalpethado apart of Chandula Jayamanne’s prowess with the bat. In the bowling department, the spin trio of Vinu Mohotty, Taneesha Weerakoon and Ashanth Malka have taken over 150 wickets this season amongst them and they will be the biggest threat for the Josephians.
Probable XI – Dineth Thimodya, Didulana Medis, Hashan Wanasekara, Lakshina Rodrigo, Chandula Jayamanne (Captain), Sachin Dalpathado, Manelkar De Silva, Vinu Mohotti, Taneesha Weerakoon, Ashanth Malka, Randel Senevirathne
Young and talented Josephian team
Right hand opening batsman Pathum Madusanka will captain a talented bunch of inexperienced and young players who had a mixed-bag this season with only 3 outright wins and 2 outright losses to Trinity College and Ananda College. Pathum will be the player to make the bulk of the runs for the Josephians as he has amassed close to 800 runs this season with 2 swashbuckling tons. Leg-spinning all-rounder Aravinda Akurugoda will be the main go-to bowler for Pathum during the big match as he was the ‘Best Bowler’ during last two encounters. The boys from Maradana possess a good bowling unit with the likes of fast-bowling all-rounder Jehan Daniel, left-arm spinner Malshan Rodrigo and off-spinner and second-in-command, Hashindra Perera to help Aravinda in order to restrict the Peteite batting unit.
Two second-year players, Sandaruwan Rodrigo and Vimukthi Peiris will have to play to their potential to help Pathum in the batting department.
Probable XI – Shewon Fonseka, Pathum Madusanka (Captain), Sandaruwan Rodrigo, Vimukthi Peiris, Hashindra Perera, Nipun Sumanasinghe, Aravinda Akurugoda, Jehan Daniel, Suren De Silva, Malshan Rodrigo, Ruchira Ekanayake.
Final words
St. Peter’s have the edge over St. Joseph’s College but the underdogs have always performed well in the Battle of the Saints. Anything is possible during both these two days of exciting cricket at P. Sara Oval stadium. The match is scheduled for 210 overs with 105 overs each day and lot of skill and temperament will be needed from all the players in this colourful saint’s rivalry. It will be another classic Joe-Pete battle which will go down to the wire but a draw is likely to be expected with two quality sides going head to head.
Watch the action live on www.thepapare.com
