St. Joseph’s College put up a well-constructed performance to beat their arch rival St. Peter’s College by 91 runs in the 40th annual Joe-Pete Limited Overs encounter played at R.Premadasa Stadium.
After a tame draw last week in their ‘Battle of the Saints’ Big Match, Both teams were hoping a win this week as the Josephian skipper Dylan Fernandopulle won the toss and elected to bat first on a placid ‘Kettarama’ surface. St. Peter’s struck gold when they removed the Josephian skipper for a golden duck in the 2nd over of the innings.
Opening batsman Duran De Alwis and Sadeera Samarawickrama batted with authority for the next few overs in the power-play to take the score to 47 before Sadeera Samarawickrama was clean bowled for 25. The third wicket partnership of Duran De Alwis and Pathum Madusanka prospered well for the boys from Darley Road as they milked the Peterite bowling sensibly to put on a 98 runs stand with both batsmen crossing the fifty run mark. Duran De Alwis made 52 runs in 105 balls with six fours and Pathum Madusanka scored four boundaries and a six in his 84 ball knock of 50. Left arm spinner Sahan Nanayakkara took the wickets of both batsmen as St. Joseph’s College were placed on 148 for 4 wickets in the 38th over.
St. Joseph’s late order batting was propelled by two healthy knocks by Priyamal Perera and Fabian Fernando. Priyamal made a solid contribution of 22 runs in just 13 balls with one four and 2 sixes while Fabian Fernando smashed 37 runs in 40 balls with three fours as the Josephians posted a formidable 224 runs on the board at the end of their 50 overs. Right arm medium fast bowler Chemila Obeysekara was the pick of the bowlers taking 2 wickets in a spell of 10 overs giving away only 24 runs. Sahan Nanayakkara took 2 wickets with his left arm spinners.
Chasing 225, St. Peter’s went into a deep hole largely to a hostile opening spell of fast bowling by Fabian Fernando when the right arm seamer removed three top order wickets of in-form Dineth Thimodya, Janith Liyanage and big match centurion Chandula Jayamanne as the Peterites were 12 runs for the loss of 3 wickets in their 3rd over. Skipper Kavinda De Thissera and Oshan Karunaratne consolidated the innings making 48 runs for the third wicket before Oshan Karunaratne was clean bowled by a Malshan Rodrigo delivery.
Josephian spinners bowled extremely well to tighten the screws yet Kavinda De Thissera and fresher Manelka De Silva batted in a calm and composed manner to give some hope for the Peterite team. The 5th wicket pair put on a well compiled 54 runs before right arm off spinner Hashindra Perera brought an end to a promising partnership which opened the gates to a lopsided tail end batting by St. Peter’s College as Hashindra Perera took four wickets to restrict the Peterite batting lineup to 133 runs in the 42nd over as St. Joseph’s won the annual Joe-Pete limited overs encounter for the second consecutive time.
Peterite skipper Kavinda De Thissera scored a gritty but slow 28 runs while Manelka De Silva scored 32 runs in 79 balls. Wicket Keeper and opening batsman Oshan Karunaratne top scored with 36 runs. Aravinda Akurugoda bowled an economical spell of 8 overs for just 10 runs and grabbed one wicket.
Individual Awards :
Best Fielder – Priyamal Perera (SJC)
Best Bowler – Hashindra Perera (SJC)
Best Batsman – Pathum Madusanka (SJC)
Man of the Match – Fabian Fernando (SJC)
Chief Scores:
SJC – 224/8 in 50 overs : Duran De Alwis 52, Sadeera Samarawickrama 25, Pathum Madusanka 50, Priyamal Perera 22, Fabian Fernando 37, Chemila Obeysekara 2/26, Sahan Nanayakkara 2/45.
SPC – 133 all out in 41.4 overs : Oshan Karunaratne 36, Kavinda De Thissera 28, Manelka De Silva 32, Hashindra Perera 4/23, Fabian Fernando 3/25.
