The ‘heart stopper’ of 2002 of the Battle of Saints
Thivanka De S. Wijayaratne
Come April 28 and 29, the 89th edition of the ‘Battle of the Saints’ cricket encounter between St. Joseph’s College and St. Peter’s College will be played at the SSC grounds–a switch from their preferred venue P. Sara Oval.
Many wondered why the dates have been changed from March to April. The reason was the lent season and both schools, two premier catholic schools decided to play it after the Easter celebration.
Through the history, ‘Saints Battle’, as it is affectionately known, has not only produced a galaxy of cricketers to the national team, but the encounters have provided vigour, vitality, excitement and sometime nerve wracking conclusions which in the end had led to many ‘heart stoppers’.
One such was the 68th Battle of the Saints played on March 1 and 2, 2002 at the P. Sara Oval, where 22 young warriors from both schools kept the packed house on the edges of their seats with a pensive mood very seldom.
The year 1976 saw a remarkable piece of so called ‘Jewish Deliverance’ where Israel defence forces managed to secure the hostages from the clutches of highjackers at Entebbe airport which completely took the world by surprise. The Hollywood managed to script few adventurous movies out of this catastrophe and such thriller movies are still fresh with the viewer and far more eloquent than even spoken of today. Similar to such Hollywood adventure; a ‘shocker at the cricket’ took place at P. Sara stadium in the year 2002.
Jehan Jayasuriya
Masterminded by young Josephian coach Harsha de Silva, an old boy of the great institution and his 11 young charges, ably marshalled by allrounder Thivanka De S. Wijayaratne produced a thriller, nearly pulling off a miraculous victory.
On paper, St. Peter’s looked a far more superior outfit led by the stylish left-hander Jehan Jayasuriya. Put in to bat, St. Peter’s could muster only 200 in their first innings with debutant Prajeeve Jansz hitting a defiant half century (56). It was further aided by the sloppy fielding of the Josephians.
The Joes in their turn, could not do better and were folded up for 139 runs, thus conceding a healthy lead of 61 runs. Only Chandana Aravinda and Ranesh Perera made some useful contributions with the bat as two fiery pacemen from Bambalapitiya school, Nadula De S. Wijayaratne and Sajitha Mendis shared nine wickets between them. Mendis was the wrecker in-chief, taking six wickets to rattle the Joes.
St. Peter’s in the second innings, though had a healthy lead of 61 runs, could only manage 162 runs where tight bowling and superlative fielding by the Darley Road boys completely bemused their counterparts. Accordingly, Joes had a target of 224 to win in 57 overs and what a run chase that was.
Every member of the team contributed for this memorable run chase with 15-year-old debutant Hashan Gunatilleke standing out with a majestic 77. He kept one end moving as the ‘sheet anchor’ and played a very matured innings with useful contributions coming from Chandana Aravinda (39), skipper Wijayaratne (40) and a quickfire 34 from wicket keeper batsman Gihan Perera nearly achieved the unbelievable.
At one stage Joes were tumbling at 131 for 6, but a 71-run partnership for the seventh wicket in just 72 deliveries from Wijayaratne and Perera, nearly had the biggest upset of the season where once Joes were sitting pretty at 201 for 6 wickets in the 53rd overs. However the unfortunate run out of Wijayaratne and finally the dismissal of Perera had the curtains for the boys from Darley Road, which certainly prevented a dramatic Josephian victory. The match ended in high drama, nail-biting finish with a draw where St. Joseph’s ended 221 for 9 and fell short by three runs from target, and the Petes were just short of one final scalp.
It was the new thinking and the ploy adopted by the Josephian coach Harsha de Silva which really made the matters different. Harsha is a fighter. True to his wisdom, his ploy was to restrict the Peterites in their second essay to a lowest possible total and then took the challenge by meticulously planning this historic run chase, according to session by session along with Josephian skipper Wijayaratne.
Had Wijayaratne remained without being getting himself run out, the story would have been completely different. Later it was found that Wijayaratne has batted with appendicitis infection. Such was the commitment of a captain who led the Darley Road School admirably.
Though this encounter now has gone into history, it has left many a ‘school of thought’ to both camps of Joes and Petes. It was the traditions and history which ultimately look great mentors of all time. The invasion of the pitch by the spectators too was a point to ponder in this encounter where such delays certainly deluded both the sides of a noteworthy result at the end.
History assures both St. Joseph’s and St. Peter’s to identify each other as who they are and where they really stand. It also teaches them to stomach victory or defeat in dignity and gracefully. Great traditions are not always old but the best ones are usually those that stand the test of times.
In line with this memorable Battle of the Saints 68th encounter in 2002, dare to be said that it was just a game after all. The result looked immaterial but it was fought to tooth. Therefore as far as this match of 2002 is concerned, an honourable draw was the best result and such encounters would be a great cynosure to every young Joes and Petes who expect to display their potential on the turf in the years to come.
Hats off to both the captains Thivanka De S. Wijayaratne of St. Joseph’s and Jehan Jayasuriya of St. Peter’s for a grand finale and leading their respective teams for a such memorable saints confrontation by way of cricket. Both these men today are occupying top most positions in their respective chosen fields of profession.
Prior to the conclusion, one of American poet Berton Braley’s greatest observations says as follows:
“If we should win, let it be by the code
With faith and honour held high
And if we should lose
Let us stand by the road
And cheer as the winners go by”
Supun Perera
Old boy of St. Joseph’s College