St. Joseph’s College put on a dominant performance as they sealed victory in the 52nd Battle of the Saints – Limited Over encounter played on 25th April 2026 at the Singhalese Sports Club in Colombo.
After being put into bat, St. Peter’s College got off to a flying start through openers Dineth De Silva and Savi Fernando. De Silva in particular took the attack to the Josephians, striking five boundaries and a maximum on his way to 39 off 23.
The introduction of spin did wonders for the boys from Darley Road as Nushan Perera dismissed De Silva in his first over. The Peterites then went through a tricky patch where they lost 4 wickets for just 33 runs.
Captain Enosh Peterson then joined Jason Fernando in the middle, and the two put on 64 runs for the 5th wicket. Peterson dropped anchor with 26 off 68 while Fernando notched up his half century and went at an excellent pace, finishing with 52 off 58.
The Peterites looked in trouble once again after the pair was dismissed, slipping to 171 for 7. However, the tail batted around young Sadeesha Silva who made 34 runs to give the Peterites a competitive but below par 231 at the end of their 50 overs. All Josephian spinners got into the action, but it was Nushan Perera who was the pick of them with 3 for 33 off his 10 overs.
In reply, the Josephians were cautious against the new ball, with the openers taking the score up to 32 by the 8th over. Two quick wickets through Joshua Sebastian and Shavidu Silva pegged back St. Joseph’s College to 41 for 2 and would’ve given the Peterites a sniff. However, this was when Senuja Wekunagoda joined Aveesha Samash in the middle and the two took the game away from their opposition.
Wekunagoda in particular showed great intent as he raced to 73 off just 58 deliveries. While Samash batted longer to finish with a fine 85 off 90 balls, an innings that saw him being awarded the player of the match award. The two put on 119 for the 3rd wicket in no time to take the boys from Darley Road to 160 by the 30th over.
There was then a mini collapse as the Josephians too lost 4 wickets for 39 runs to slip to 200 for 6. However, the damage had already been done as Ruwanaka together with Nushan Perera took their time adding the finishing touches as St. Joseph’s College chased down the target with 8 overs to spare. Thareen Sanketh was the pick of the Peterite bowlers with 2 for 38 off his quota.
This victory saw St. Joseph’s College win the Peter Pillai memorial trophy for the first time since 2023, certainly a morale boosting win ahead of their appearance in the schools U-19 two day tournament finals.
- Best Fielder – Senuja Wekunagoda (SJC)
- Best Bowler – Nushan Perera (SJC)
- Best Batsman – Jason Fernando (SPC)
- Emerging Player – Thisanga Perera (SJC)
- Player of the Match – Aveesha Samash (SJC)
