All roads lead to the Singhalese Sports Club (SSC) on the 10th, 11th and 12th of March as these two hallowed institutionscarry-on to make history for the 137th year, as Royal College take on S Thomas College in the ‘Battle of the Blues’ which continues to be one of the most awaited sporting extravaganzas in the Sri Lankan calendar.
At the 136th Battle of the Blues, rain spoilt four sessions of play in a match where S.Thomas’ College had the upper hand against their rivals.
Run Heavy Top Orders
In a remarkable season, the top five batsmen for both sides have racked up runs at will, with over 650 runs each.
Royal’s top five batsmen have scored 4,366 runs in 135 innings at an average of 32.34.
The captain, vice-captain duo of Geeshath Panditharatne and Thiran Dhanapala have eclipsed the magical 1000 run mark for the season at an average over 40 while the ever-consistent opener Naveen Withanapathirana has added 883. Last year his 911 runs was the highest.
Panditharatne and Dhanapala have been immovable rocks in the middle order for the Reid Avenue lads, who has set high value for their wickets.
Royal College: A Conquest to retain Crowned Glory
Following in the foot-steps of his seniors, is the 16 year old Pasindu Sooriyabandara who holds the vital number three spot. The fresher with wonderful composure and application has shown more than glimpses of things to come.
| Royal College | Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | 100’s | 50’s |
| Thiran Dhanapala | 21 | 27 | 1,115 | 48.13 | 4 | 5 |
| Geeshath Panditharatne | 21 | 28 | 1,026 | 42.75 | 3 | 3 |
| Naveen Withanapathirana | 20 | 30 | 883 | 31.53 | 1 | 6 |
| Ronuka Jayawardena | 20 | 28 | 694 | 26.60 | 0 | 3 |
| Pasindu Sooriyabandara | 16 | 22 | 648 | 32.10 | 2 | 2 |
The S.Thomas’ College top five batsmen have scored 3755 in 124 innings at 30.28.
The captain, vice-captain duo of Sachitha Jayathilaka and Yohan Mendis have not done too shabby themselves with 758 and 770 runs respectively. Jayathilaka known for his monster sixes (36 this season) is the only batsman from the Thomians not to have scored a hundred but has compensated for it by having the highest half centuries (7) from either side.
The highest run getter this season for the ‘School by the Sea’ is the aggressive yet elegant stroke player Rashmika Opatha, who has amassed 832 runs at 32.00 with a strike rate of 88.04.
Opatha’s (71 4’s & 35 6’s) and fresher Dilendra Gunathilaka’s (116 4’s & 17 6’s) destructive force is evident with a boundary every 8.9 and 6.9 balls respectively.
| S.Thomas’ College | Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | 100’s | 50’s |
| Rashmika Opatha | 21 | 26 | 832 | 32.00 | 2 | 5 |
| Yohan Mendis | 21 | 26 | 770 | 33.48 | 1 | 4 |
| Sachitha Jayathilaka | 20 | 21 | 758 | 36.10 | 0 | 7 |
| Ravindu Kodituwakku | 21 | 26 | 704 | 27.08 | 1 | 4 |
| Dilendra Gunathilaka | 21 | 25 | 691 | 31.41 | 1 | 5 |
The Spin Barrages
A refreshing variety of spin bowlers from both schools would take the field at the 137th Battle of the Blues; more so from the Thomians than the Royalists.
A right arm leg spinner, a left arm orthodox bowler, a left arm chinaman, a right arm off spinner; you name it the Thomians have it.
Jayathilaka, the most successful bowler in terms of average from both sides has 79 scalps at 10.70 and miserly economy rate of 2.04.
Ravindu Tillakaratne, the chinaman who has picked up 59 wickets, is an aggressive bowler who is always on the prowl for wickets and is not afraid to use the variations in his armoury, while a couple of surprise yet planned bowling introductions might happen at the ‘Battle of the Blues.’
Thomians’ aggressive batsmen and spinners eyeing ‘The Shield’
The Thomian camp would be keeping a keen eye on the 15 year old left arm orthodox sensation Dellon Peiris, though having missed almost the entirety of the 1st term through a fractured thumb, has picked up 41 wickets in 12 matches.
| S.Thomas’ College | Matches | Overs | Runs | Wickets | Avg | Econ |
| Sachitha Jayathilaka | 20 | 416 | 849 | 79 | 10.7 | 2.04 |
| Ravindu Tillakaratne | 21 | 332 | 1,068 | 59 | 18.1 | 3.22 |
| Dellon Peiris | 12 | 252 | 588 | 41 | 14.3 | 2.33 |
| Dineth Kannangara | 12 | 163 | 450 | 31 | 14.5 | 2.76 |
Royal’s relentless Lasith Embuldeniya, who has already written his name in the history books, with a staggering 118 wickets, as one of the most successful bowlers the school and even schools cricket has ever produced. He will have to fight a lone battle against the Thomian batsmen unless Ganith Sandeepa steps up to compliment his star bowler, something he has done this season.
Sandeepa has 43 wickets with two 5-wicket hauls.
Lasith Embuldeniya: Eyes on the Prize
The successful combo Embuldeniya – Sandeepa has a vital role to play in the spin department come the Big Match as a significant proportion of Royal’s fortunes will lie solely upon them.
| Royal College | Matches | Overs | Runs | Wickets | Avg | Econ |
| Lasith Embuldeniya | 21 | 649 | 2,092 | 118 | 17.72 | 3.22 |
| Ganith Sandeepa | 18 | 280 | 866 | 43 | 20.13 | 3.09 |
Key Battles
Top Three v Fast Bowlers
Naveen, Ronuka and Pasindu for Royal against the Thomian fast bowlers; Yohan, Ravindu and Rashmika for S.Thomas’ against the Royal quicks.
Both the top three’s have proven to give significant contributions after getting good starts. Royal with 3 centuries and 11 half centuries and S.Thomas’ with 4 hundreds and 13 fifties.
Thomian ‘quicks’ have a slight advantage having taken 80 wickets with averages below 20, to Royal’s 66 wickets at expensive averages.
While the whirlwind starts of Opatha can lay the foundation for the Thomians to post scores which their spinners would relish, a controlled Royal ignition would certainly propel them to a 300 plus score, which they have done on 6 occasions this season, on the SSC flat-bed.
Panditharatne-Dhanapala v Thomian Spinners
A battle to relish! The duo, which has scored 7 hundreds and 8 fifties, at a combined average of 45.44, against a spin trio which has stream-rolled oppositions to 179 wickets at an average of 14.33.
Embuldeniya v Thomian Middle Order
If the Thomians can tame Embuldeniya, then their chances of reclaiming ‘The Shield’ would sky rocket. If not Reid Avenue will be home for the D.S.Senanayake Shield for another year.
If Embuldeniya spins a web and S.Thomas’ are in need of a hero, watch out for Romesh Nallaperuma. Though he has not scored heavily, he has the potential to dig them out of danger.
Live – 137th Battle of the Blues
Royal College 1st XI
Geeshath Panditharatne ©, Tiran Dhanapala , Lasith Embuldeniya, Naveen Withanapathirana, Himesh Ramanayake, Ronuka Jayawardena, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Ganith Sandeepa, Malith Kariyawasam, Helitha Vithanage, Duvindu Hettiarachchi
S.Thomas’ College 1st XI
Sachitha Jayathilaka ©, Yohan Mendis, Ravindu Tillakaratne, Rashmika Opatha, Senal De Silva, Ravindu Kodituwakku, Dilendra Gunathilaka, Dellon Peiris, Romesh Nallaperuma, Hansaka Liyanarachchi, Yohan Perera
 on the 10th, 11th and 12th of March as these two hallowed institutions carry-on to make history){kind=link}