73rd encounter on March 2 and 3

Joes-Petes in search of win

by Ranjan Anandappa

CRICKET: Two of the strongest school cricket outfits in the current season - St. Joseph's and St. Peter's will battle for supremacy in their 73rd Big Match at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium on March 2 and 3.

Both teams seem to be confident and an absorbing two days of cricket is on the card. For the past couple of years the Joes took the field as favourites, but the Peterites had fought tooth and nail to square the issue.

The Joes comprise five players who represented the country at junior level, namely opening batsman Dimuth Karunaratne, all-rounder Angelo Mathew, batsman Roshane Silva, off-spinner Rajive Weerasinghe, and all-rounder Thisara Perera.

Former under 19 World Cup captain Angelo Mathew who was in and out of the side due to injury, heads the batting and bowling averages. He has an aggregate of over 383 runs scored in seven matches with an average of 95.75 with four unbeaten innings and an unbeaten 121.

Opener Dimuth Karunaratne in his eight matches he had played, has scored 608 runs with a top score of 137. The others who have been among the runs for the Joes are: Ruwantha Fernandopulle (over 410 runs), Anton de Livera (492) and Roshane Silva.

In their bowling, brothers Rajeeva Weerasinghe (off-spin 42 Wkts) and Sameera Weerasinghe (leg-spin 49 wickets) have formed an ideal spin combination for the Joes.

For the Peterites, Krishal Magage with over 600 runs to his credit, inclusive of five half centuries, has been the most consistent player. Srimantha Wijeratne (525 runs) with a century and five fifties, Shivanga Ranasuriya (358), skipper Lahiru Pieris (350), Anuk Silva (257) with two fifties and Ruwan Wicremanayake (300) with two half centuries have been among the runs.

The pick of the Peterite bowlers are right arm leg spinner Lakshan Rodrigo who has a rich haul of over 90 wickets and medium pacemen Umer Samsudeen (over 40 wickets) and Vinod Perera (Over 35 scalps) who have been delivering the goods. In the 72 encounters played so far between the two schools, the Josephians have won 11 matches to the Peterites 7, with 54 ending in draws.

In the 15 matches played so far in this season, the Peterites have won 5 matches defeating Ananda, St. Benedict's, Maris Stella, Maliyadeva and Sri Rahula. The Joes in their 13 matches played so far have beaten Isipathana, De Mazenod, D. S. Senanayake College, Maris Stella, Trinity and Meepawala Amarasuriya MV. St. Joseph's last won in 1972 under the leadership of Rohan Fernando and former Test batsman Roy Dias was the Peterite captain. The Peterites last won under Suraj Abeysekera in 1978 and the Josephian captain was Shamilal de S. Wijeratne.

The highest individual score in the series is by former All Ceylon cricketer Clive Inman (204 n.o) in 1954. Fred Perera's 114 n.o still remains as the highest individual score by a Joe in 1934.

Josephian Shenal Warnakula has the best bowling analysis in an innings (9 for 41) in 1997, he had a match bag of 14 for 113 in that game. For the Peterites, Dion Walles (9 for 53) in 1947 and Cyril Dias (9 for 64) in 1933 also had impressive bowling figures.

St. Joseph's (from): Dimuth Karunaratne, Ruwantha Fernandopulle, Angelo Mathew, Roshane Silva, Anton de Livera, Rajeeva Weerasinghe (captain), Prabuddha Sankalpa, Thisara Perera, Shameera Weerasinghe, Sahan Wijesiri, Treshan Rajasuriya, Nirmal Rajapakse, Haren Silva, Hashan Perera, Dinal Dambarage, Nishika de Silva.

St. Peter's (from): Krishan Magage, Srimantha Wijeratne, Lahiru Pieris, Anuka Silva, Shivanga Ranasuriya, Angelo Perera, Ruwan Wickremanayake, Lakshan Rodrigo, Umer Samsudeen, Vinod Perera, Chanaka Fernando.