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| Sunday, 23 February 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Joes and Petes in search of victory for a long time by Pelham Juriansz The 'Battle of the Saints' to be played on Friday February 28 and Saturday, March 1, at the SSC grounds. Last year's Lemonade League and knockout trophy runners-up, St. Peter's are all out to win after 25 years. The Peterites last victory was recorded in 1978, under Suraj Abeysekera. The Josephians last won in 1972 under Rohan Fernando. On paper, the Peterites seem to be the stronger side as they have two victories under their belt out of 17 games, with the most outstanding being the one against Ananda at Bambalapitiya. The Joes on the other hand, have played 14 matches, and won 1 against Maris Stella, and lost to St. Benedict's and D.S. Senanayake. The Darley Road boys performed somewhat poorly in the early part of the season by losing to the Benedictines after 37 years. They, however, recaptured some of their lost confidence when they had the Royalists in a spot of bother in the first innings having recorded a first innings win against them. They further added a feather to their cap by gaining a big first innings lead against the Thomians who were bundled out for a mere 186. The Joes piled on a massive 317/7 declared with skipper Deshan Bastianpillai stroking a stylish unbeaten 102 in that game. The Peterites on the other hand, seem a stronger outfit though losing to the Sebastianites on the first innings, and almost recording an outright win against Prince of Wales where Last year's Observer Bata Schoolboy Cricketer, Sahan Wijeratne prevented them from gaining victory. Against Ananda too, the Peterites obtained first innings points. But, they succumbed to the Royalists on the first innings at Bambalapitiya. St. Peter's however made amends for this by having a good game against St. Anthony's, Katugastota, though they failed to press home the initiative gained in the first innings by sloppy fielding. The Peterites did well to have De Mazenod on the run in their last game at Kandana. All-rounder Hans Fernando, struck a century and the Peterites dismissed De Mazenod for 201 and had them reeling at 182 for 7 in the follow-on. St. Peter's made 340 for 7 declared in the first innings. The Josephians missed out of winning last year's match by just three runs. It would have been a sweet victory had they achieved it because they hadn't tasted victory for 30 years since Rohan Fernando last led them to victory in 1972 where Rajeev Benedict tore through the Peterites to bundle them out for 36 (the lowest score in the series), though the Peterites had Roy Dias as skipper. Tagged as the best team for the past few years, the Peterites all but pulled off a win last year as they had a wicket to take. It was a exciting match indeed! The two teams have pledged to play positive cricket and ensure a victory since there have been a spate of draws since 1978. St. Joseph's, too, haven't won for a long time since 1972 when Rajiv Benedict single handedly fashioned a victory. The organisers last year devised a plan to do away with negative play. The system of playing 60 overs per side for the first innings was introduced four years ago but even then though there have been exciting games no result has come out of the games. The two sides will get a maximum of 60 overs each in the first innings and if the side batting second at the end of the 60 overs has less than 100 runs deficit irrespective of whether they are all out or not they can be sent into follow on. The first day will see 105 overs being bowled and the second 110 overs and the umpires have been instructed to ensure that the overs are finished on time. The Josephians this year are led by Deshan Bastianpillai, who rather strangely has yet to play a "Big Match'. Because of illness, Deshan was unable to play in last year's Big Match. He, however, has scored three centuries this season with the most recent being a sterling knock against the Thomians at Darley Road. Wicket keeper-batsman Tharindu Ariyawansa, is another prolific scorer having notched up some good scores as the opener. His partner is Danuka Hettiarachchi who has been out of form this season and has yet to come out of his shell. The Joes are hoping he will come good in the 'big 'un. The successful bowling combination of the vice captain and only coloursman, Ranesh Perera (right arm leg spin & googly) and Rajiva Weerasinghe (off spinner) has been their main forte in bowling out the opposition. All-rounder Sandun Dias has been consistent with the bat coming in at number 7 and opens the bowling along with Angelo Matthews. 14 year old Damith Karunaratne is a revelation as far as the batting is concerned. Damith scored 2 centuries in the second eleven encounters and after being promoted to the first team was involved in a partnership of 123 runs with Hashan Gunatilleke. He scored a fluent 38 in that innings. The Peterites, on the other hand, are led by Nadhula de S. Wijeyeratne and his deputy is Samiddha Gallage, an established all-rounder. Opening the batting is young second year player Prajeeve Jansz and Shanaka Wickremasekera. The most exciting batsman in the side is wicket -keeper batsman Gihan de Silva, who is in the Under 19 squad against the touring English Cricket Board. Hans Fernando who struck a fine century against De Mazenod, Kandana, is an all-rounder who has performed well for the Bamba boys. Also in the team is Shehan Wijetunga, an useful bat and a bowler of repute. The opening bowlers are skipper Nadhula de S. Wijeyaratne, who has had a good season without being outstanding and he is supported by R. Subasinghe. St. Joseph's (from): Deshan Bastianpillai (Captain), Ranesh Perera(Vice Captain), Tharindu Ariyawansa, Danuka Hetiarachchi, Hashan Gunatilleke, Sandun Dias, Angelo Matthews, Rajiva Weerasinghe, Dimuth Karunaratne, Shamal Warnakula, Niroshan John, Prassana Pallawela and Rukshan Perera. St. Peter's (from): Nadhula de S. Wijeyeratne (Captain), Samiddha Gallage(Vice captain), Gihan de Silva, Prajeev Jansz, Shanaka Wickremasekera, Hans Fernando, Shehan Wijeratne, Ramesh Subasinghe, Rakitha Rupasinghe, Dinesh Panditharatne, Dasun Randika, Dilan Gurusinghe, Sohan Boralessa, Heshan Nanayakkara, Lahiru Peiris and Prabuddha Perera. |
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