Sports
Rehan’s century propels Royal
by Reemus Fernando
S. Thomas’ were 32 without loss at close after Rehan Peiris top scored with 158 runs to propel Royal to 319 for seven wickets declared on day one of the 146th Battle of the Blues at the SSC ground on Thursday.
Deciding to bowl first after winning the toss S. Thomas’ skipper Kavindu Dias took two early wickets with the new ball but Rehan Peiris who opened batting doused fears of an early collapse with a mighty knock that held the Royalists together.
The entertaining knock, the highest individual score by a Royalist since 2010 was inclusive of 21 fours and three sixes.
He became the fifth Royal batsman in the history of the Battle of the Blues to score over 150 runs. After Ramith Rambukwella scored 165 runs at the 2010 edition no batsman had scored over 150 runs.
At one stage he looked set to put on a big stand for the third wicket with Vimath Dinsara as Royal took lunch at 94 for two wickets. But Dinsara ruined a golden opportunity when he offered an easy catch off the bowling of Jaden Amaraweera to be out for 25 runs. The partnership was worth 91 runs.
Thewindu Wewalwala perished on 48 runs caught and bowled by part time bowler Dineth Goonewardene. When Royal decided to declare their innings Yasindu Dissanayake was unbeaten on 25 runs.
Thomian openers Avinash Fernando and Jaden Amaraweera negotiated ten overs without being parted.
S. Thomas’ College playing positive cricket were able to defeated Royal College by five wickets in the 146th Battle of the Blues.
St John’s Jaffna overcame big match rivals Jaffna Central by five wickets in the Battle of the North
Brief scores:
India will lean on the strength of their spinners, who on occasion have challenged the idea that runs even belong in the game of cricket. Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy are probably allowed to do that. One minute, they toss a tiny white ball down the pitch, the next a full-grown man at the other end becomes a footnote in history without knowing what happened.
But the other two? The left-arm orthodoxers? One of them doesn’t even do it right. Axar Patel is supposed to turn the ball. And by all accounts, he does try. He runs in steady. He gives it a good rip. But the ball just never listens. All it wants to do after leaving Axar’s hand is crash into the stumps. India’s four spinners have produced 21 wickets in the Champions Trophy 2025, That’s more than the other three World Cup winners in this competition combined.
Dubai has been the perfect playground. It is also shaping up to be a bit of an asterisk. Rohit Sharma and his men have had one less variable to worry about than every other opposition – travel – and that clearly makes it less of an even playing field. And it would be unfair if they – the players – had asked for it. They didn’t. All they’re doing is taking advantage of an advantage given to them. Cricket cannot solve the issue that has led to this event – and potentially other future events – being conducted in two different countries. So it did what it could. Put on a show and cash in.
Perhaps New Zealand are here to balance the scales a bit. Their spinners have been almost as good as India’s, picking up 17 wickets, and they’ve had the better of India in four of the last eight ICC tournaments. They have a member of the current Fab Four in good form and a contender for the next one coming off a hundred. Eight of the XI they’ve been using at this Champions Trophy were also part of the Test side that beat India in India 3-0. They really should stop meeting like this. But lucky for us, and maybe the ICC too, they won’t.
New Zealand will be playing in their sixth ICC men’s final. Kane Williamson has been part of five. How many more does he have left? He’s seen Steven Smith retire from ODIs. He’s seen Joe Root exit the Champions Trophy. He’ll be seeing Virat Kohli soon enough, and only one of them will get to walk away with a title. What if Williamson wins? Will he bow out on a high like Kohli did from T20Is? And what if he loses? Does he have it in him to keep going?
It was a double century against New Zealand that showcased the heights that Shubman Gill can reach in one-day cricket. The ease with which he puts the ball away. The ability to handle pressure. The skill to shepherd an innings even while running out of partners. He seemed too young, at 23, to be able to do all that. And yet there he was. It seems entirely appropriate, considering the speed with which Gill has developed in ODI cricket, that only two years later, he has the chance to shape an ICC event.
India have beaten New Zealand in Dubai already and that’s how they realised their best combination for those conditions, bringing in Varun and gaining another point-of-difference bowler through the middle overs. It’s unlikely they’ll want to tinker with that.
There is concern around Matt Henry’s right shoulder after he landed awkwardly on it during the semi-final three days ago. Considering he has been key to New Zealand’s plans, particularly against India, before, his loss will be huge no matter who replaces him.
India (probable): Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy
New Zealand (probable): Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (capt), Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry/Jacob Duffy/Nathan Smith, Will O’Rourke
[Cricinfo]
S. Thomas’ beat Royal by five wickets in the 146th Battle of the Blues
St Johns win Battle of the North by five wickets
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