Royal have edge over S. Thomas’

by Leslie Fernando

Cricket: Two well balanced teams - traditional rivals Royal and S. Thomas’ will clash in their 131st annual ‘Battle of the Blues’ cricket encounter on March 11, 12 and 13 at the SSC grounds, Maitland Place.

New sponsors

New sponsors Etisalat will be in attendance at the three-day match.

Of the two schools, Royal have good reasons to be happy with their performances this season as they have recorded four wins - against Maliyadeva, Wesley, St. Joseph’s and St. Benedict’s in the 18 matches that they played. Royal, however, lost to Trinity and Prince of Wales and the rest of the games ended in draws.

Royal will be led by that experienced 4th year coloursman Banuka Rajapakse - the Sri Lanka Schools cricketer. He missed many matches as he was on national duty. Rajapakse hit a fine 132 against St. Sebastian’s College in the big-match warm up game last week (March 1 and 2). He also bowls medium-pace. He has a total of 378 runs and in bowling he has taken 20 wickets.

Royal College: Standing (Last Row: from left): Chirath Devasurendra, Lakshitha Landewela, Garuv Deva, Prabath Sampath, Waruna Dissanayake, Shavindra Edirisuriya. Middle Row: (Standing from left - Imal Liyanage, Dhanika Rajakaruna, Tharindu Abeysekera, Madusha Rajarathne, Milan Abeysekera, Imran Khan, Maushan Gunarathne, Devin Pathmanathan. Seated from left: M.T.A. Rauff (Senior Games Master), Ramith Rambukwella, Chalaka Bogoda, Bhanuka Rajapakse, (Captain), Upali Gunasekera (Principal), Maneesha Tantrigoda, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Charitha Rajarathne, E.G.M. Rajakaruna (Master-in-Charge), G. Perera (Coach).

S. Thomas’ College: Seated from left: Lakmaal de Zoysa (Master-in-Charge). Vijitha de Silva (Prefect of Games), Lalindra Peiris, Ashane Fernando, Rev. John C. Puddefoot (Warden), Dinesh Walpita (Captain), Chamodh Pathirana, Sachin Peiris, Barney Reid (coach). Standing from left: Pasan Wijewardena, Brian Dharmasena, Kavindu Perera, Sachinda Liyanarachchi, Yasas Nanayakkara, Nilaksha Fernando, Dimitri Dolapihilla, Malinda Jayasinghe, Nuwan Kavinda, Neomal Wickremasekera, Madushan Ravichandrakumar, Umesh Fernando, Prabath Ariyaratne.

Royal with six coloursmen have quite a formidable batting side and in the team are three centurians - Charutha Rajaratne, Ramith Rambukwella and Waruna Dissanayake. Charutha Rajaratne has an aggregate of 556 runs with a score of 127 against St. Joseph’s as his highest, R. Rambukwella’s aggregate of 686 with 110 against St. Joseph’s as his top score while Waruna Dissanayake has a top score of 119 against St. Benedict’s in his total of 386 runs this season.

There is variety in the Royal bowling and this is something that will make them somewhat happy. The key bowler is left-arm leg-spinner Maneesha Tantrigoda who has an unique achievement - capturing 103 wickets for the season. He has five-wicket hauls eleven times. Best was 8 for 48 against Dharmaraja.

The Royal bowlers have delivered the goods and that is reflected in their four wins this season. S. Thomas’ will have their hands full in tackling the Royal attack in making something worthwhile when they take their turn in batting. Royal’s attack will comprise Imran Khan (right-arm medium-pace) 26 wickets, Charutha Rajaratne (right-arm leg-spin) 25 wickets, Ramith Rambukwella (right-arm leg-spin) 24 wickets.

Thomians behind

S. Thomas’ in their turn, is somewhat behind. The Thomians have been able to win only two matches this season - against Richmond College and newcomers - Joseph Vaz College, Wennappuwa. The Thomians have played 18 matches (inclusive of the third-term matches). The Thomian lost to Trinity like the Royalists. The other games that the Thomians ended in draws.

However, S. thomas’ can take some consolation in the fact that the team showed a marked improvement in their performances in the latter part of the season. Nuwan Kavinda - a fresher and a middle-order batsman has the satisfaction of scoring over 1,000 runs (1,089 runs) with his highest being 121 against Richmond.

He is quite a useful allrounder and has taken 13 wickets with his right-arm off-spin bowling. The Thomians will depend heavily on their five senior players all allrounders - skipper Dinesh Walpita, Ashane Fernando, Chamodh Pathirana, Lalindra Peiris and Sachin Peries to guide them through in this match.

Fourth year coloursman Dinesh Walpita leads the Thomians. He has scored 254 runs for the season and taken 18 wickets with his medium-pacers. The other key batsmen are: Chamodh Pathirana (451 runs), Ashen Fernando (571 runs), Lalindra Peiris (404 runs), Kavindu Perera (459 runs) together with Sachin Peiris (368 runs). These batsmen are capable of big things and this match may well be their day.

In bowling, fresher Noemal Wickremesekera - a left-arm leg-spinner has been the most impressive bowler in the Thomian side with a haul of 41 wickets.

The other bowlers who have performed effectively this season - Chamodh Pathirana second year coloursman - a right-arm medium-pace bowler with a haul of 32 wickets, Madushan Ravichandrakumar - a leg-spinner with 28 wickets and Laindra Peiris has taken 20 wickets with his right-arm off-spin.

Royal College: Banuka Rajapakse (captain), Ramith Rambukwella, Chalaka Bogoda, Maneesha Tantrigoda, Kithruwan Vithanage, Charutha Rajaratne, Imal Liyanage, Dhanika Rajakaruna, Tharindu Abeysekera, Madusha Rajaratne, Milan Abeysekera, Imran Khan, Manushan Gunarathne, Devin Pathmanathan, Chirath Devasurendra, Lakshitha Landewela, Garuv Deva, Prabath Sampath, Waruna Dissanayake, Shavindra Edirisuriya.

S. thomas’ College: Dinesh Walpita (captain), Lalindra Peiris, Ashane Fernando, Chamodh Pathirana, Sachin Peiris, Pasan Wijewardena, Brian Dharmasena, Kavindu Perera, Sachinda Liyanarachchi, Yasas Nanayakkara, Nilaksha Fernando, Dimitri Dolapihilla, Malinda Jayasinghe, Nuwan Kavinda, Neomal Wickemasekera, Madushan Ravichandrakumar, Umesh Fernando, Prabath Ariyaratne.