91st Battle of the Saints

St. Joseph’s hold the edge  when they meet arch rivals St. Peter’s in the 91st Battle of the Saints’ big  match starting today. After having beaten Petes by nine wickets in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ quarter-final at Polonnaruwa the Joes arive at the SSC ground to prove that the victory registered two months ago was not a fluke.

St. Joseph’s captained by wicketkeeper batsman Kenath Liyanage are concluding a successful season after having remained unbeaten until they were eliminated in the semi-final by St. Sebastian’s .

A strong batting lineup and a dynamic spin department are making them a formidable outfit.

Experienced campaigner Yenula Dewthusa and Demion de Silva with their left-arm spin and Aveesha Samash and Nushan Perera with off spin provide the Joes variety in the spin department. Dewthusa, Demion de Silva and Nushan Perera are their leading wicket takers.  Spinners doing well at schools matches have not been effective at the SSC during the last few big matches. It will be interesting to watch as to how the spinners in these two teams would fare during the three days.

For pace the Joes will look to Maanasa Madubashana and Dunick Perera who are expected to share the new ball.

Abishek Jayaweera and Aveesha Samash will open batting, while Senuja Wakunugoda, skipper Liyanage, Dewthusa and Rishma Amarasinghe form the rest of the top order batting lineup.

St. Joseph’s registered three outright victories this season (beat St. Servatius’, St. Benedict’s and St. Peter’s) and remained unbeaten.

St. Peter’s under Oween Salgado’s captaincy did well to reach the business end of the Tier ‘A’ tournament. But the Petes were uncertain of Salgado’s participation in the big match as they were yet to assess his fitness yesterday morning. He was wounded during a match and the stitched wound had not fully healed according to team sources.

Petes beat Gurukula, St. Aloysius’ and Holy Cross this season. Their only defeat was at the hands of their arch rivals. They will look forward to avenge the defeat at the big match.

The Petes will rely on the likes of Dilana Damsara, Thareen Sanketh, Nathan David and Jason Fernando to take a greater share of batting responsibilities. The middle order batsman Sanketh is their leading batsman and has maintained an average of over 50 runs.

Speedsters Ethan Ransilige and Joshua Sebastian will share new ball duties for the Petes.

Lashmika Perera and Sanketh will share most of the slow ball duties.

St Peter’s are in the possession of the coveted Rev. Fr. Maurice J. Le Goc Trophy having last won the big match under the captaincy of Vinu Mohotty in 2016.

St. Joseph’s lead the series tally 12-10. They last won under Ruwantha Fernandopulle’s captaincy in 2008.

St. Peter’s College Team
(Seated from left) Harsha Prabath Perera (Asst. Physio/Trainer & Massuer), Thushara Maduhanka (1st XI Asst. Coach),
Nalin Wijesinghe (Head Coach), Priyadarshana Cooray (MIC – Senior & Junior), Oween Salgado (Captain), Rev. Fr.
Rohitha Rodrigo (Rector), Rev. Fr. Praveen Wijesekara (Priest in Charge – Cricket), Lashmika Perera
(Vice Captain), Dilana Damsara, Rohan Fernando (MIC – 2nd XI), Dinuka D. Godakanda (2nd XI Coach).
(Standing 1st row from left) Dinsara Rathnaweera, Dineth de Silva, Tharin Senvidu, Nathan David, Hiruka Silva, Thareen
Sanketh, Virul Amarapala, Yatheendra Jayaweera, Salith Gallage, Raphael Hettige. (Standing 2nd row from left) Jason Fernando,
Joshua Sebastian, Savi Fernnado, Ethan Ransilige, Asadisa De Silva, Sadeesha Kariyawasam, Enosh Peterson

by Reemus Fernando