The prestigious and historic 102nd cricket encounter between St. Joseph’s College, Colombo 10 and St. Anthony’s College, Katugasthota for the Murali – Vaas Trophy will take place on the 14th and 15th of February, 2014 at Darley road.
Both leading catholic schools in Sri Lanka have produced great cricketers in the past who have made their alma mater and the country proud with their brilliant performances on the field and off the field. The motivation for this all important encounter is the “ Murali-Vaas Trophy ” which was inaugurated in year 2007 in appreciation of the two legendary Sri Lankan Cricketers of all time ; Left arm speedster Chaminda Vaas of St. Joseph’s and world class spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan of St. Anthony’s.
St. Joseph’s lead the tally with 41 wins and St. Anthony’s have only won on 8 occasions. Joes kept the trophy at home last year under the leadership of Sachin Hewawasam when they completely demolished their counterparts at Darley Road with a crushing 8 wicket victory. The win was possible due to some creditable spin bowling by the Josephians who bowled out the Anthonians to only 35 runs in their 2nd innings. St. Anthony’s last won this traditional encounter in 1991 where Muttiah Muralitharan was a part of their lineup.
This time around, St. Joseph’s will be led by the stylish left hand opening batsman Dylan Fernandopulle. Dylan will certainly miss the services of his two team mates Sadeera Samarawickrama and Priyamal Perera serving their country at the ICC Under 19 World Cup. Dylan will be backed up by senior players like Pathum Madusanka, Fabian Fernando and Yashan Samarasinghe in their goal of registering back to back wins against St. Anthony’s College.
Right hand middle order batsman Nimesha Gunasinghe will lead St. Anthony’s college this season. Nimesha & Co will have a tough task in beating Josephians in their own back yard. St. Anthony’s college are yet to win an outright this season and with the annual big match looming ahead they will be itching for a commendable performance against the strong Josephian outfit. Anthonian Spinners Kavinda Udapola, Uditha Mahindraratne and Buwaneka Wijethunga will have their work cut out in spin friendly Darley road surfaces.
All eyes will be on both captains to make big runs during this game and all the players will look to give their best as there will be individual awards to present for the most outstanding performances during the game.
St. Joesph’s College Squad: Dylan Fernandopulle (Captain) , Duran De Alwis, Pathum Madusanka, Yashan Samarasinghe, Fabian Fernando, Kalpa Ravihara, Trishan Thanuja, Malshan Rodrigo, Vimukthi Peiris, Revan Kelly, Aravinda Akurugoda, Hashindra Perera and Nirvana Abeysekara.
St. Anthony’s College Squad: Nimesha Gunasinghe (Captain) , Kavinda Udapola, Uditha Mahindraratne, Buwaneka Wijethunga, Kanishka Uggalpaya, Damithra Panditharatne, Nimesh Wanasinghe, Dilan Bandara, Mohammed Alfer, Pulasthi Bandara, Janindu Himsara , Kavinda Yapa Bandara, Chalana Salgado and Pamod Bandara
