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| Sunday, 7 March 2004 |
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Royal and S. Thomas' have lost 2 games each this season : Bowlers hold the key in 125th Battle of the Blues by LAL GUNESEKERA The oldest school cricket encounter in the country - the 125th 'Battle of the Blues' confrontation between traditional rivals Royal and S. Thomas' will be played at the picturesque SSC grounds, Maitland Place March 11 to 13. Of the 124 games played so far, both Royal and S. Thomas' have won 32 games each with 60 being left drawn. Eighteen games have been played at the SSC with a decision being reached only thrice. The Thomians won twice - the last being under Naren Ratwatte in 1999, while the Royalists have won one in 1991 under Rohan Iriyagolle. Since the three-day game was introduced in this series in the Centenary year of 1979, both Royal and S. Thomas' have won three games each. Will it be yet another draw this year or will a result be achieved? This all depends on the approach of the two rival captains - Tharaka Kottehewa of Royal and Kaushal Silva of S. Thomas' who has returned to lead his school outfit after representing the country at the under-19 World Cup in Dhaka, Bangladesh. When the performances of the two sides are taken into consideration this year, a decision can go either way. Royal has won one game over Dharmapala while losing to St. Joseph's and Prince of Wales. The Thomians, too, have won one match against Thurstan, while losing to Prince of Wales and Isipathana. Royal's most prolific batsman this season has been their vice-captain Navin Dias who has topped the 1000-run mark with centuries against St. Anthony's and Isipathana. Coming in at No. 4, Dias, is a delight to watch when in full flow. The other batsmen of repute in this side are Dhanushka Edusuriya with about six half centuries and opener Heshan Morawaka who hit a century against St. Sebastian's and also notched four half centuries. Morawaka's co-opener Dimitri Siriwardene and Janith Jayawardene a middle-order batsman, have not faced well, but Royal will be strengthened with the return of last year's skipper Ganganath Ratnayake from Dhaka. It will be remembered that last year, Ratnayake made 75 in the first innings and followed it up with a fine unbeaten 111 in the second. Both skipper Kottehewa and Nadun Punchihewa too are capable batsmen, but their top order batsmen have been somewhat weak against pace bowling this season. Royal's two most successful bowlers have been left-arm spinner Punchihewa with over 40 wickets so far and right-arm 'leggie' Dulanjaya Wijeratne with over 35 scalps to his credit. With the return of right-arm off-spinner Ganganath Ratnayake to the side the bowling has certainly been strengthened. Kottehewa who opens the attack had a shoulder injury and will hope it would have healed in time for the big clash. Morawaka is another left-arm spinner who has over 30 wickets to his credit. The Thomians possess a good opening pair of Isuru Warnakulasuriya and Navin Perera, who notched a century against St. Peter's. Ashan Pieris and Charith de Silva too are good batsmen, but all eyes will be on Sanjeev Mendis (son of former Sri Lanka's dashing batsman Duleep), who has been enjoying a splendid season with plenty of half centuries and will hope that this historic three-day game will bring him luck to get that elusive century. Skipper Kaushal Silva who has returned also strengthens the batting line-up. There is also the hard hitting Pramuditha Rodrigo. Nigel Adams who opens the bowling with Rodrigo has been among the wickets this season with Sanjeev Mendis too sending down some useful medium-pace deliveries. However, the Thomians will depend a lot on their two spinners - Vidyesh Balasubramaniam the vice-captain and Sajith Kularatne, for the break throughs. Royal (from): Tharaka Kottehewa (captain), Navin Dias (vice-captain), Heshan Morawaka, Dimitri Siriwardene, Gayan de Silva, Janith Jayawardene, Dhanushka Edusuriya, Ganganath Ratnayake, Nadun Punchihewa, Dulanjaya Wijeratne, Chaturanga Somapala, Duminda Tennekoon, Lakmal Rajapakse and A. Bandara. S. Thomas' (from): Kaushal Silva (captain), Vidyesh Balasubramaniam (vice-captain), Isuru Warnakulasuriya, Navin Perera, Ashan Pieris, Sanjeev Mendis, Charith de Silva, Pramuditha Rodrigo, Nigel Adams, Sajith Kularatne, Ravinath Panduwawala, Shane Godwin, D. Colambage, Jehan Thahir and R. Karunaratne. |
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