Petes have upper hand over rivals Josephians
All roads for past and present boys of St. Joseph’s and St. Peter’s will lead to the P. Sara Stadium on March 6 and 7 when the two traditional rivals clash in their annual Battle of the Saints big match.
St.Peter's squad
The clash which is the 81st in the series is fought out for the Rev. Fr. Maurice Le Goc Challenge Trophy. Of the 80 matches that have been played so far the Josephians lead the series with 12 wins as against to the nine by the Peterites.
The Josephians last win was achieved in 2008 under the leadership of Ruwantha Fernandopulle while the Peterites’ last victory was in 2012 under Shehan Fernando.
According to the form of the two teams St. Peter’s led by Chandula Jayamanne will be coming into the game with full of confidence as they are unbeaten having
Chandula Jayamanne (Captain of St. Peter's)
recorded seven outright wins against Nalanda, Maris Stella, Wesley, Royal, Trinity, Dharmasoka MV and St. Anthony’s Katugastota from the 16 matches that they have played. In contrast St. Joseph’s led by Pathum Madusanka cannot be satisfied with their performance this season as they have had a lean season being able to chalk up three outright wins against Maris Stella, Wesley and St. Anthony’s Katugastota while losing one outright to Trinity from the 15 matches that they have played
For the Josephians, apart from skipper Pathum, the other key players in the batting department will be Aravinda Akurugoda, Sandaruwan Rodrigo, Kevin Corteling, Jehan Daniel and Nipun Samarasinghe who all will have to perform with responsibility for the side to propel the scoreboard.
Pathum is their top scorer of the season with over 750 runs inclusive of two tons and four half tons while Aravinda
Pathum Mudusanka (Captain of St. Joseph's)
who has also has a ton has scored over 300 runs but in fact he is being depended as a key bowler of the side.
Much will be expected from Sandaruwan who has score over 400 runs as he is capable of frustrating the Peterite bowlers along with Jehan, Nipun and Hashindra Perera who too would be a player for their opponents to take note of.The bowling will be in the hands of Aravinda Akurugoda their top wicket taker with over 50 scalps this season, followed by Harin Cooray and Hashindra Perera with Jehan Daniel to support curtail their opponents.
On the other hand the Peterites posses a strong batting line up spearheaded by opener Dineth Thimodya who has cracked two tons, five half tons having scored over 750 runs. He will have Lakshina Rodrigo the other centurion of the side with over 700 runs and Didulana Medis along with Hashan Wanasekera, Sachin Dalpathado and skipper
St Joseph's squad
Chandula for the Petes to bolster their score.
The Peterites will be banking their bowling attack on two spinners Taneesha Weerakoon who is their top wicket taker having taken 65 wickets and Vinu Mohotti who has taken over 55 wickets along with Asanth Malka who has over 50 wicktes to his credit.
Support will be expected from skipper Chandula and Randel Seneviratne in preventing the Josephians from making a big score. Eventhough the Peterites come into the game as favourites they cannot afford to take the Josephians as easy nuts to crack due to the fact that the underdogs have the ability to come out on top.
All in all the supporters of both the sides are going to have two days of entertaining cricket. However for an outcome of the match it will depend on the runs scored in the first inning due to the 60 overs restriction.
The two day encounter will be followed by the limited over clash which is played for the Rev. Fr. Peter Pillai memorial Challenge Trophy which is scheduled to be played on March 14 at R. Premadasa Stadium.
This is the 41st match in the series and in this version too the Josephians are leading with 21 wins as against to the 17 by the Peterites. The Josephians won the match last year under the leadership of Dylan Fernandopulle while the Peterites last win was in 2012 under Shehan Fernando.