The Big Match season also known as ‘March Madness’ on ThePapare.com will be kicked off with the ‘Battle of the Saints’ as two leading catholic schools; St. Joseph’s College and St. Peter’s College will test their skills with the willow and leather for the 80th time on 7th and 8th of March at P. Sara Oval Stadium.
Two days of entertaining and exciting cricket is on the cards with both teams evenly poised to give out their best. Rich traditions prevail during this battle as both teams represent their colleges with great pride and honour.
History of the Encounter
Saints will battle hard for the Rev.Fr Maurice Legoc trophy which started way back in 1933 with St. Joseph’s College winning the inaugural clash. Rev.Fr Maurice Legoc has been the rector of both the institutions and the trophy for the ‘Big’ match is named in his honour. He first served at St. Joseph’s College and then went on to become the first rector at St. Peter’s College later on.
Robert Fernando led St. Joseph’s College in the 1st encounter while George Jayaweera led St. Peter’s College. Seventy nine matches have been played between these two great cricketing schools and St. Joseph’s College lead the tally with 12 wins while St. Peter’s College have won on 9 occasions. 60 matches have been concluded as drawn encounters. St. Joseph’s College last won the 74th Battle of the Saints under the leadership of Ruwantha Fernandopulle in 2008 while St. Peter’s College won the 78th Battle of the Saints under Shehan Fernando’s captaincy in 2012.
The highest score in the ‘Battle of the Saints’ series is by St Joseph’s College when they made 382 in 1982 when the Josephians were led by Ken Serpanchy while the highest Peterite score was in 1938 under Percy Perera’s leadership where they accumulated 345 runs.
St Peter’s College were bowled out for a paltry score of 36 in 1972 and incidentally that remains as the lowest score in the series and St. Joseph’s lowest score was 56 in 1938. The highest individual score of the series is 204 by Clive Inman which he achieved in 1954 and the best bowling figures for an inning is 9 for 41 by Shenal Warnakula of St Joseph’s in 1997.
Recap of 2013
Last year St. Joseph’s College took the field under the leadership of capable all-rounder Sachien Hewawasam while St. Peter’s College was led by versatile all -rounder Dushan Hemantha.
The highlight of the game was the brilliant century by the Josephian wicket keeper batsman Sadeera Samarawickrama. Sadeera’s 153 ball knock of 127 runs was studded with 14 fours and a massive six. The Peterites in their first innings made 236 for 9 in 60 overs while the Josephians in their reply made 281 for 8 in 60 overs backed up with Sadeera’s exciting passage of batting. The Bambalapitiya school topped up 253 in the tank and declared at 7 wickets down in their 2nd innings and chasing 209 for victory, St. Joseph’s College were 138 for 5 at close of play on second day with the game ending in a stalemate.
2013/14 season
St. Peter’s College have played 16 games so far this season and they have registered two outright wins and remained unbeaten throughout the season. The Petes have won on 1st innings in 11 games which ended in draws and in three drawn games they have lost on 1st innings.
St. Joseph’s College has played 16 games during the 2013/14 season and they have won three games outright. Unbeaten Josephians have won 4 games on 1st innings points and have lost 7 games on 1st innings points and one match ended without a result.
Star studded Josephian outfit
Left hand opening batsman Dylan Fernandopulle will lead a star-studded Josephian side comprised of two of the most exciting talents unearthed nationally as in the recently concluded ICC under 19 World cup in UAE, Sri Lanka under 19’s batting charts were topped by two Josephians; Sadeera Samarawickrama and Priyamal Perera and these two will no doubt pitted as Dylan’s two main show stoppers in the upcoming ‘Battle of the Saints’.
4th year coloursman Dylan Fernandopulle who has scored close to 600 runs this season will be assisted by batting all-rounder Priyamal Perera who is also a 4th year coloursman. Priyamal is a natural stroke maker who scored over 200 runs in the recently concluded ICC under 19 World cup and before his national commitment he made close to 500 runs for his college team. 5th year coloursman Sadeera Samarawickrama will be the most experienced player on the park on the 7th and 8th from both teams. Sadeera had an outstanding ICC under 19 World cup and he will be itching to bring that form into the big match. In-form Pathum Madusanka will be another key player to watch out for as he is the only centurion for St. Joseph’s College in their under 19 division 1 schools season. Josephian bowling attack will be spearheaded by right arm medium fast bowler Fabian Fernando and the Josephian’s main weapon will be their talented bunch of spinners in Aravinda Akurugoda, Priyamal Perera and Hashindra Perera with close to 100 wickets have been shared by these three spinners.
Perfectly mixed Peterite outfit
Right hand middle order batsman Kavinda De Thissera will captain a talented mix of experienced and young players representing St. Peter’s College. 4th year coloursman Kavinda De Thissera has scored over 700 runs this season with 2 centuries under his name. The main player to watch out for will be their 3rd year player Dineth Thimodya who will be opening the batting for St. Peter’s College. Left handed Dineth has reached the magical 1000 runs mark this season with 2 superb centuries.
Number 3 batsman Janith Liyanage is another talented all-rounder for St. Peter’s and his all-round capabilities will be an extra advantage for the lads from Bambalapitiya. Janith has scored over 600 runs this season and has taken close to 30 wickets. He made twin half centuries in last year’s big match. The Peterite bowling attack will have three genuine fast bowlers in Chemila Obeysekara, Naveen Dharshana and Janith Liyanage but their key bowler will be the left arm spinner Sahan Nanayakkara who has taken close to 90 wickets this season. Sahan will be assisted by Thaneesha Weerakoon with his right arm off spin bowling.
Prediction
Teams are evenly poised after both having had unbeaten seasons. The match is scheduled for 210 overs with 105 overs each day and lot of skill and temperament will be needed from all the players in this colourful big match. St. Joseph’s College have a slight edge with their two star players back in the side but St. Peter’s College have performed exceptionally well during the season. It will be another classic Joe-Pete battle which will go down to the wire but a draw is also to be expected with two quality sides going head to head.
St. Joseph’s College squad
1. Dylan Fernandopulle (Captain)- Left Hand Batsman – Leg Spinner
2. Priyamal Perera (Vice Captain)- Right Hand Batsman – Off Spinner
3. Sadeera Samarawickrama – Right Hand Batsman – Wicket Keeper
4. Fabian Fernando – Right Hand Batsman – Right Arm Medium Fast
5. Yashan Samarasinghe – Left Hand Batsman – Off Spinner
6. Pathum Madusanka – Right Hand Batsman – Off Spinner
7. Nirvana Abeysekara – Right Hand Batsman – Wicket Keeper
8. Duran De Alwis – Left Hand Batsman – Right Arm Medium Fast
9. Aravinda Akurugoda – Right Hand Batsman – Leg spinner
10. Shammi Senevirathne – Left Hand Batsman – Left Arm Medium Fast
11. Trishan Thanuja – Left Hand Batsman – Right Arm Medium Fast
12. Malshan Rodrigo – Right Hand Batsman – Slow Left Arm
13. Kalpa Ravihara – Right Hand Batsman – Wicket Keeper
14. Hashindra Perera – Left Hand Batsman – Off Spinner
15. Brayan Jayamanne – Right Hand Batsman – Right Arm Medium Fast
Head Coach – Janaka Deegodagame
Director of Coaching – Anura Tennakoon
Assistant Coach – Kapila Manohara
MIC – Prasantha Ranaweera
St. Peter’s College squad
1. Kavinda De Thissera – Right Hand Batsman – Right Arm Off Spin
2. Janith Liyanage – Right Hand Batsman – Right Arm Medium Fast
3. Chemila Obeysekara – Right Hand Batsman – Right Arm Medium Fast
4. Sahan Nanayakkara – Left Hand Batsman – Slow Left Arm Leg Spin
5. Dineth Thimodya – Left Hand Batsman – Right Arm Off Spin
6. Chandula Jayamanne – Right Hand Batsman – Right Arm Medium Fast
7. Oshan Karunarathne – Right Hand Batsman – Wicket Keeper
8. Hashan Wanasekara – Left Hand Batsman – Right Arm Leg Spin
9. Didulana Mendis – Left Hand Batsman – Right Arm Leg Spin
10. Sanjula Madushan – Left Hand Batsman – Right Arm Off Spin
11. Vinu Mohotti – Right Hand Batsman – Right Arm Off Spin
12. Savin Gunasekara – Right Hand Batsman – Right Arm Off Spin
13. Taneesha Weerakoon – Right Hand Batsman – Right Arm Off Spin
14. Naveen Dharshana – Right Hand Batsman – Right Arm Medium Fast
15. Sachin Dalpathadu – Right Hand Batsman – Left Arm Chinamen
Coach – Keerthi Gunaratne
Assistant Coaches – Kitto Fernandopulle, Piyal Salgado and Shanaka Fernando
Manager – Mahesh de Silva
MIC – Sanath Chinthaka
80th Battle Of the Saints – Kavinda de Tissera (SPC Captain)
80th Battle Of the Saints – Keerthi Gunarathne (SPC Coach)
80th Battle Of the Saints – Dylan Fernandopulle (SJC Captain)
80th Battle Of the Saints – Janaka Deegodagamage (SJC Coach)
