Gates open for spectators after three years at 89th Battle of Saints
St. Joseph’s College
One of the most competitive big matches played in Sri Lanka, the 89th edition of the ‘Battle of the Saints’, powered by Dialog Axiata PLC, played between premier Catholic boys’ schools –
St. Joseph’s College and
St. Peter’s College — for the Rev. Father Maurice J. LeGoc Trophy, will be battled in its full glory at the SSC on April 28 and 29.
Due to the unprecedented times in the last two years owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the matches were played behind closed doors for the safety of players. However with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions the Joint Match Organising Committee of the ‘Battle of the Saints’ under the guidance of the heads of the two respective schools, the 89th edition will be played in full attendance of students, old boys and well-wishers.
The ‘Battle of the Saints’, which is renowned for its exciting and competitive brand of cricket, is the only annual two-day cricket encounter that strategically limits the first innings to 60 overs each to create greater interest that pushes the game towards a potential result.
In the 2023 encounter the lads from Darley Road will be led by wicketkeeper/batter and Sri Lanka Under-19 player Sadeesh Jayawardena, while the boys from Bambalapitiya will be under the captaincy of batting allrounder Nimuthu Gunawardana.
St. Peter’s College
St. Joseph’s lead the series tally with 12 wins, with their last win coming under the captaincy of Ruwantha Fernandopulle in 2008, while St. Peter’s were the winners of the 2016 encounter under Vinu Mohotty, bringing their tally to 10 wins, which ensured the Rev. Father Maurice J. Legoc Trophy was kept securely in the trophy cabinet at Bambalapitiya.
Looking back at the individual performances of the two teams the Josephians possess a strong batting line up and have four centurions in the side with skipper Sadeesh leading having made three tons. He scored 117 against Wesley, 134 against Maliyadeva and 121 against Moratu MV and had the honour of reaching the milestone of 1000 runs which he achieved in their last match played against Moratu MV. Naren Muralitharan is another player who has scored two tons of 131 not out against Ananda and 102 against St. Benedict’s. He has scored over 600 runs.
Hiran Jayasundara is another batsman that the Peterites will need to take care of. He has a top score of 200 not out against Royal and has made over 500 runs. The other centurion is Avintha de Alwis, who has a top score of 101 against St. Benedict’s. He has chalked up over 500 runs.
The foursome are going to be the cynosure of all eyes while Muditha Dissanayake, who has over 500 runs along with Lahiru Amarasekera, Hiran Kapurubandara, Rishma Amarasinghe and Sahan Dabare expected to support them.
The Josephian bowling attack will revolve around their top wicket takers Lahiru Amarasekera and Yenula Dewthusa. Together both have taken over 125 wickets between them while Muditha Dissanayake and Gagan Chamod’s support will be expected to curtail the Peteririte batting.
The Peterites too will bank on their skipper Nimuthu, who is their top scorer. He has made over 700 runs. Rusanda Gamage, Vishen Halambage, Oween Salgado and Kavika Jayasundara all have made over 500 runs and Shansay Gunatileke is expected to bolster the scoreboard. Their bowling will be in the hands of Shennon Rodrigo, Kavika Jayasudnara and skipper Nimuthu while support will be looked forward from Sean Roberts and Lakindu Sachin.
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 highly anticipated Josephian-Peterite limited overs match played for the Fr. Peter A. Pillai Memorial Trophy, which was the first one day encounter among schools commencing in 1975, has always attracted the highest number of spectators for a school’s 50 over cricket match is scheduled to be played on April 30 at the SSC in Colombo. The Josephians lead the one-day encounter 24-21 with two matches ending in no result and one game with a tie. Last year,
St. Peter’s edged out St. Joseph’s in a closely contested game.
The two schools have produced many national caps. Current Sri Lanka Test skipper Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Chaminda Vaas, Dunith Wellage, Thisara Perera, Ashley de Silva, Michael Van Dort, Roshen Silva, Priyamal Perera and Sadeera Samarawickrama are the Josephians who represented Sri Lanka while from St. Peter’s Roy Dias, Rumesh Ratnayake, Vinodhan John, Amal Silva, Russel Arnold, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Malinda Warnapura, Angelo Perera and Janith Liyanage have represented the country.
This year Janatha Steel has strengthened the Joe-Pete big match as the platinum sponsor, while Keells Krest, Elephant house, CBL, Maggie, Daraz, HNB, Uber and Singer Sri Lanka are other sponsors who have come aboard. Dialog Axiata PLC has made arrangements to broadcast the matches live on Dialog Television channel number 70, and via live stream on Thepapare.com and the Dialog ViU app.