Saints battle it out on March 3 and 4
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The 83rd annual ‘Battle of the Saints’ will be played on March 3 and 4 at the P. Sara Stadium, Colombo and will no doubt exemplify the great traditions, pageantry and exciting brand of cricket usually displayed by the two schools.
In this year’s encounter, the boys from Darley Road will be led by its main strike bowler, Harin Cooray, while the Peterites will be under the captaincy of prolific batsman and former national youth player, Lakshina Rodrigo.
St. Joseph’s leads the series tally with 12 wins, and their last win came under the captaincy of Ruwantha Fernandopulle in 2008, while St. Peter’s was the worthy winners of the 2016 encounter under Vinu Mohotty bringing their tally to 10 wins. The Saints battle it out annually for the Rev. Father Maurice J Legoc Trophy, which is kept secure in the trophy cabinet at Bambalapitiya.
The chief guest at the 83rd Battle of the Saints will be Kito Fernandopulle, who skippered the Peterites in 1979. The Josephian-Peterite encounter had produced many cricketers who have the distinction of representing the national team, with Angelo Mathews, Chaminda Vaas, Thisara Perera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Ashley de Silva and Michael Van Dort from St. Joseph’s, while Roy Dias, Rumesh Ratnayake, Russell Arnold, Vinodhan John, Amal Silva, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Malinda Warnapura and Angelo Perera donning the national cap from St. Peter’s.
The Josephian-Peterite limited overs match which is the longest running encounter in the country and played for the Fr. Peter A. Pillai Ttrophy will be worked off on March 25 at the SSC ground. The Joe-Pete limited over commenced in 1975 under the Rectorship of Rev. Fr. Quintus Fernando of St. Joseph’s and Rev. Fr. Claver Perera of St. Peter’s, with the first game of the series played at Darley Road on March 16, 1975. Interestingly the match returns to the SSC after 1994 and a large crowd is expected to come witness an enthralling game of cricket.
Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider, Dialog Axiata, will sponsor the 83rd Battle of the Saints. The Josephian-Peterite two-day encounter as well as the one day match will be telecast live on Dialog Television Channel Number One, live-streamed on thePapare.com and on the Mobile TV streaming platform MyTV. Elephant House, Keells Krest, Nestle and Jetwing Hotels have also come aboard to support the Saints encounter.