Sports

Sports

Silva, Mathews lead Joes fight-back
By M. Shamil Amit
A simple catch grassed by Lahiru Peiris in the slips, from the bat of Angelo Mathews off the bowling of pacie Umhar Samsudeen proved to be futile for the Peterites in their drawn 71st Battle of the Saints at the P. Sara Stadium yesterday.

The Josephian pair Angelo Mathews and first innings half centurion Roshane Silva, took advantage of the lapse to put on a match saving 112 runs for the fifth wicket and fought their way back to lay the foundation in order to force this draw.

The Peterites surprisingly dominated play when play got under-way on the first day.They had the Joes reeling at 44 for 6 before bundling them out for a paltry 126. Opening bowler Umhar Samsudeen did the damage with a five - wicket haul for 40 runs. They then put themselves in a strong position by replying with 220 with skipper Prajeev Jansz leading the way.

When play resumed yesterday with Joes on 12 for no loss, they were uncertain of making an impression with four of their top batsmen back in the pavilion for 94 as right arm off spinner Shanaka Wickramasekera was in terrific form taking three of these, before the vital miss, with Mathews at the stage, the catch was grassed when he was on 16 and the Joes were 118 for 4. But credit cannot be taken away from the two batsmen as they played with sheer responsibility and by the time Roshane was dismissed - caught by keeper Randika off the bowling of Lakshan Rodrigo for a well compiled 58. This knock included seven boundaries and they were safely out of the woods at 206 for 5. This was Roshane's second half ton of the match.

Mathews joined by Ranesh Perera further frustrated the Peterites as the duo had things their own way and added another valuable 72 - run partnership for the sixth wicket before Perera made the exit, clean bowled by Umhar Samsudeen for 38. At the tea break Angelo Mathews had settled down and was on 87 and approaching his big match ton. Resuming after tea the Joes lost the wicket of Christopher Fleming and as soon as Mathews reached his century, with a mid on boundary off Samsudeen which also gave the 300 plus at which score they declared their innings. Wickramasekera was the most successful Peterite bowler with 4 for 86.

This left the Peterites a victory target of 210 in 31 overs which was beyond their reach. Peterite skipper Prajeev Jansz who made a 63 in the first innings made an unbeaten 55 in the second innings with Shanaka Wickramasekera also making 56 n.o. The Petes ended the day on 129 for 1. Thus they retained the Fr.Legoc Memorial Trophy for the 27th year by virtue of being the last winners of the Battle of the Saints in 1978. Three Peterites - Prajeev Jansz, Umhar Samsudeen and Dasun Randika won the best batsman, bowler and fielder's awards respectively while Josephians - Angelo Mathews and Roshane Silva won the best all-rounder and the man of the match awards.

The 31st limited over encounter between the two schools will be played at the R.Premadasa Stadium on March 19 (Saturday). The encounter is played for the Fr. Peter A. Pillai trophy.The Joes lead the series with 17 to the Peterites 12 with one match ending in a tie over the years.

Top