76th Battle of the Saints

Joes up against Petes’ big ‘uns’

The 76th annual ‘Battle of the Saints’ big match between St. Joseph’s College, Colombo and St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya, will be played on Friday and Saturday, at the Colombo Oval with the Joes going into the crunch showdown as slight favourites against a Sri Lanka youth caps laden Petes.
St. Joseph’s College led by fourth-year coloursman and left-arm pace spearhead Dinal Dhambarage have played 17 matches in the 2009-2010 inter-school season, winning five of those ties outright (Isipathana MV, Moratu MV, President’s College Rajagiriya, Wesley College and Trinity College, Kandy), while coming unstuck against Royal College, Colombo.
The Joes posses an all-round team this season with Chathuranga Kumara - a top-order right-hand batsman with 911 runs to his credit being the batting mainstay.
Kumara whose best score this season has been a knock of 142 against St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy will be the anchor on which the Joes will base their innings with solid support extended by the likes of Jaan Jayasinghe - a third-year coloursman and left-handed top-order bat having accumulated 624 runs so far.
Besides, both Chathuranga Kumara and Jaan Jayasinghe the lads from Darley Road will also bank on Enrico Silva - a right-handed top-order bat and second-year player who has aggregated over 560 runs.
Rosco Thatil - a third-year coloursman and a left-handed lower-order bat who has notched up over 480 runs will also provide solidity to their batting line up in their bid to amass an imposing first-innings total which could put their big match adversaries under severe pressure.
If their batting has looked decent and reliable throughout the season, the real forte of the Joes has been their bowling attack which in effect has seen them notching up five outright wins and the Petes will no doubt have their hands full in keeping their opponents at bay.
For St. Joseph’s, three bowlers have snared over 50 scalps in this inter-school cricket season with right-arm off-spinner Rosco Thatil leading the way with 58 wickets.
Thatil has been quite outstanding having returned five-wicket hauls on four occasions and he has been ably backed up by spin-twin and right-arm leg-spinner Dinal Fonseka who has bagged 57 wickets with four five-wicket hauls.
Hence, the Petes will have their work cut out in tackling this potent Joes spin combination who have shared 115 wickets between them.
St. Peter’s will also have to contend with St. Joseph’s skipper Dhambarage as well who has captured 52 wickets and has been effective in providing the initial breakthroughs for his side.
Meanwhile, St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya led by Sri Lanka youth captain and fourth-year coloursman Chathura Peiris and comprising three other national youth caps (Andre Berenger, Akshu Fernando and Lahiru Jayarathna) will go into the big ‘un’ with the aim of breaking a 32-year jinx.
The lads from Bambalapitiya have won three games outright (St. Aloysius College, Galle, De Mazenod College and St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota) while losing one outright to Dharmapala College, Pannipitiya.
But, the fact to be born in mind for the Joes is that the Peterites have missed four of their big guns for a major part of the season due to them being on national duty, and their anticipated return for this vital clash could make this encounter a close tussle for supremacy.
The Petes batting for much of the season has revolved around acting captain in the absence of Peiris who was on national duty - Angelo Emmanuel having scored 690 runs with a top-score of 110 against St. Aloysius, College Galle.
Apart from Emmanuel, Denham Perera a third-year coloursman and a right-hand top-order bat with 633 runs to his name will be providing the thrust to the Petes batting line-up.
The contributions of Sri Lanka youth caps wicket-keeper bat and fourth-year coloursman Andre Berenger who has scored 444 runs in five games and another fourth-year coloursman Akshu Fernando who has notched up 257 runs in 7 games also will be crucial for the Petes in their effort to turn tables on their fancied rivals.
Nilochana Perera a third-year coloursman who has scored 528 runs and fresher right-handed opener Shehan Fernando with over 500 runs will be the others to watch in that department for the Petes.
In the bowling department the Petes will pin their hopes on right-arm leggie Emmanuel who has claimed 36 wickets with first-change bowler Nilochana Perera also having bagged 27 wickets thus far.
The performance of skipper and left-arm quick Chathura Peiris who opens the attack and with his Youth World Cup experience and his right-arm opening bowler Lahiru Jayarathna who also has international experience with the national team will be vital for St. Peter’s in their desperate quest to post an elusive big-match win.
St. Peter’s College last won their big match way back in 1978 under Suraj Abeysekera while St. Joseph’s did likewise two-year ago under Ruwantha Fernandopulle.
The current tally stands in favour of the Joes who have won 12 with the Petes having clich‚d seven games.
The Chief Guest for the ‘Battle of the Saints’ this year sponsored by Ceylon Cold Stores will be Rajive Benedict - a former St. Joseph’s left-arm swing bowler who represented Sri Lanka Schools XI in 1972 under Asitha Jayaweera.
- (JK)