BATTLE OF THE SAINTS AT SSC GROUNDS DECEMBER 13TH & 14TH, 2021

Josephians take honours in drawn 87th Encounter of the “Battle of the Saints”By: Upali Obeyesekere – Josephian-Peterite News Network

Due to national commitments, St. Joseph’s missed the services of their star skipper Dunith Wellalage, batsman Shevon Daniel and wicket-keeper batsman Sadeesh Jayawardene, while the Peterites did not

receive permission from Sri Lanka Cricket to field all-rounder Wanuja Sahan. Rain also marred play on both days.

The 87th Battle of the Saints ended in a tame draw, in favour of St. Joseph’s College. The rain delayed big match was played at SSC grounds on Monday, December 13th & Tuesday, December 14th sans spectators due to Covid-19 protocols. The first innings is restricted to 60 overs which is standard procedure.

BRIEF SCORES
SJC 261.7 in 60 Overs (Sheran Fonseka 52, Yesith Rupasinghe 57, Hiran Jayasundera 53 not out, Mithira Thenura 22, Shenuka de Silva 21), Niman Umesh 3/56, Lashane Rodrigo 2/48. SPC 138/10 in 56.3 Overs (Shenal Boteju 62, Nipunaka Fonseka 19), Lahiru Amerasekara 3/40, Shenuka De Silva 3/25, and 82/2 in 22 Overs (Shenal Boteju 23, Lahiru Dewatage 50 not out).

Individual Awards
➢ Best Fielder – Shenal Boteju (SPC)
➢ Best Bowler – Shenuka De Silva (SJC)
➢ Best Batsman – Shenal Boteju (SPC)
➢ Best All-Rounder – Yesith Rupasinghe (SJC)
➢ Man of the Match – Sheran Fonseka (SJC)

Match Report

Day-1: St. Peter’s skipper Nipunaka Fonseka won the toss and elected to field first. St. Joseph’s College got off to a super start when the two left-handed openers, stand-in Captain Sheran Fonseka and Yesith Rupasinghe, added 120 runs for the first wicket. Both Fonseka and Rupasinghe had no problem in negating the Peterite bowling as they scored 52 and 57 respectively. Fonseka was the first to be dismissed when he was caught plumb in front for a 93-ball 52 by off-spinner Chamelkar De Silva. Fonseka’s elegant knock had 4 fours. In the very next over, Rupasinghe played a reverse-sweep but missed it completely as off-spinner Niman Umesh picked up his first scalp. Rupasinghe top-scored with a 85-ball 57 with 6 fours. Batting at number three, young Hiran Jayasundara played with utmost confidence to hold the inexperienced Josephian middle order. He remained unbeaten on 49. Mithira Thenura made a 18-ball 20, while Keneth Sasmina Liyanage and Shenuka De Silva made 12 and 21 respectively to steer St. Joseph’s to the driving seat. Umesh was the pick of the bowlers for the Peterites, picking up 3 for 55, bowling 16 overs.

Day-2: Action on day two began at 10.30 am, with the scheduled start being delayed by an hour due to the wet outfield. First day’s play was brought to an end around 2.00 pm due to heavy showers, with the Josephians sitting pretty on 233 for 6. The boys from Darley Road managed to add 28 more runs to their overnight score with overnight batter Hiran Jayasundara reaching a well-deserved half-century.

The Peterites started their reply cautiously, having lost fresher Vishen Halambage early in the innings. Opening Shenal Boteju continued to lose partners as the Josephian spinners bowled brilliantly in conditions which favoured spin bowling. St. Peter’s were 119 for 4 at one stage, but they lost their last 6 wickets for just 19 runs and folded for a paltry 138 runs with a deficit of 123 runs. Boteju was the most impressive batsman for St. Peter’s, scoring 62 off 149 balls with 4 fours. Apart from Boteju, no other player reached 20 runs for St. Peter’s College. The off-spin duo of Shenuka De Silva and Lahiru Amarasekara took 3 wickets apiece.

With a session left, the Josephians enforced the follow-on. In the first ball of the Peterite second innings, Halambage was dismissed. However, Boteju and No.3 Lahiru Dawatage consolidated the innings till stumps were drawn. The two were associated in a partnership of 43 runs for the second wicket. After Boteju fell for 23, Dawatage was joined by Skipper Nipunaka Fonseka as they scored 39 unbroken runs for the 3rd wicket before bad-light ended the game in the last hour.

The Peterites retained the Maurice Le Goc Challenge Trophy having last won it in 2016.

The two teams will battle it out once again on Thursday, December 16 at SSC grounds in the 47th limited-overs
encounter.