Royal out for repeat of last year

135th ‘Battle of The Blues’...While Royal will go all out to maintain their supremacy which they gained last year, the Thomians on the other hand will be adamant to bounce back to compensate for last year’s defeat as the the 135th ‘Battle Of The Blues’ Cricket Encounter, one of the oldest cricket matches played, between Royal College and S.Thomas’ College on March 13th,14th and 15th at the Sinhalese Sports Club grounds.

The Thomians succumbed to a huge defeat last year, spearheaded by an inspirational bowling performance by Royal’s Chamika Karunaratne who had a match haul of 9 wickets and almost single handedly guided Royal to victory. But this year, the Thomians are not in a mood to cave in as they did last year with a better balanced outfit at their disposal.

Royal College...... Seated from left: M.T.A. Rauf (Assistant Principal), Harith Samarasinghe, Devind Pathmanathan, Chamika Karunaratne (Captain), Upali Gunasekera (Principal), Sarath Keerthiratne (Senior Deputy Principal), Anupa Tillekeratne (V. captain), Hashen Ramanayake, E.G.M. Rajakaruna (Master in Charge), Dilip Somaratne (Coach). Standing (from left): Umesh Sooriyabandara, Duvindu Induranga, Geeshat Panditharatne, Hasitha Samarasinghe, Malith Kariyawasam, Himesh Ramanayake, Randev Pathirana, Thiran Dhanapala, Shaminda Dias, Shashika Yasawardena, Naveen Vidanapathirana.

S. Thomas’ College ...... Seated from left: Nipuna Gamage, Ravindu Tillekeratne, Helakamal Nanayakkara, Thilaksha Sumanasiri, (V. Capt), Madushan Ravichandrakumar (Captain), Sanesh de Mel, Danush Pieris, Sahan Wijesinghe. Standing (from left): Yohan Mendis, Yashod Induruwa, Rashmika Opatha, Tharindu Ratnayake, Sachita Jayatileka, Aktab Cader, Chenutha Wickremaratne, Sajana de Silva, Dulanjana Silva, Ishane Perera, Navodh Fernando.

This year, Royal’s Karunaratne missed a few games early in the season due to being a member of the Sri Lanka Under 19 cricket pool for the Asia Cup tournament held in Dubai. Last year skipper, Devind Pathmanathan led the side during his absence. Karunaratne is back and will lead Royal in their all important ‘Big’ cricket encounter. He led the schools under 17 team to the UK.

The Royal coach Dilip Somaratne said that the team is knitting well and fast as they started the season as a team building process due to losing five of their top players this year. Somaratne further said that the team during the season had to be selected by trying out as many as 24 players. The final team will have to be selected in due course and he was confident that the right composition of the team could be selected.

However, the team has remained unbeaten recording two wins against St. John’s Jaffna and and Trinity College, Kandy. The last win against Trinity is a clear indication that the team has come of age and ready for the most important game in the two schools cricketing calendar. Both schools played minus a key player each, namely Hashen Ramanayake (Royal) and Thilaksha Sumanasiri (S.Thomas’) who took part in the recently concluded Under 19 World Cup in Dubai and the duo is back in time for the match.

Chamika leads Royal

For Royal, last year’s match winner Chamika Karunaratne will lead the side and his deputy is Anup Tillkeratne. They will also have the services of last skipper Devind Pathmanathan a fifth year colourman, who has also taken the highest number of wickets over 45 this season.

Left-hand batsman Randev Pathirana remains the most impressive player for Royal with over 870 runs and 33 wickets.

The Royal spin attack comprising Pathirana, Harith Samarasinghe and Devind Pathmanathan are capable of inserting doubts in the Thomian batsmen’s mind.

Skipper Karunaratne and Anupa Tillekeratne will share the new ball, both are useful middle order batsmen. Thiran Dhanapala the wicketkeeper of the side (618) runs, Shaminda Dias (Over 700 runs) and Geeshat Panditharathne (over 330 runs) have contributed generously with the bat this season.

Thomian determined side

The Thomian coach Dinesh Kumarasinghe was optimistic that his side would come back with a vengeance to topple the Royalists who recorded an embarrassing win last year. The Thomians too, missed the services of one of their key batsman Thilaksha Sumanasiri who was away with the Under 19 team and his presence will no doubt thicken the cushions of the Thomian batting. Sumanasiri with two centuries and 550 runs should bolster the innings after missing a good part in the season.

S.Thomas’ with skipper Madushan Ravichandrakumar (Over 430 runs and 40 wickets) and Helakamal Nanayakkara (400 runs) should accumulate the runs for the Mount lavinia school.

The Thomians too, have two impressive spin bowlers with skipper Ravichandrakumar and Tharindu Ratnayake who have troubled the batsmen throughout the season with his left arm spin. New comer Chenutha Wickremasinghe and Sahan Wijesinghe have used the new ball to good effect.

The SSC pitch has a history of assisting the fast bowlers early on the first day and gradually become placid.

Both teams are well equipped with a couple of promising spin bowlers. For the Thomians they have left-armer Tharindu Ratnayake who has a rich harvest of wickets this season and Madushan Ravichandrakumar and Royalists have Devind Pathmanathan, Harith Samarasinghe and Randev Pathirana who have troubled all school batsmen this season.

In the 134 Royal-Thomian ‘big match’ history, both sides have won 34 matches each and the rest have been drawn. Royalist Sumithra Warnakulasuriya holds the record for the highest individfual score (197) in 1980 and Dulip Mendis sttruck 184 in the 1972 encounter to be the top scorer for the Thomians.

The highest partnership 254 runs for the third wicket and for any wicket is between Royalists Anushka Polonowita (164) and Yasas Dharmaratne (124) in the 1996 encounter.

Royal College (from): Chamika Karunaratne (Captain), Anupa Tillekeratne (V.captain), Devind pathmanathan, Hashen Ramanayake, Harith Samarasinghe , Randev Pathirana, Thiran Dhanapala, Shaminda Dias, Geeshat Pandistharatne, Shasika Yasawardena, Hasitha Samarasinghe, Himesh Ramanayake, Malith Kariyawasam, Duvindu Mihiranga, Naveen Nimesh and Umesh Sooriyabandara.

S.Thomas’ College: (from): Madushan Ravichandrakumar (Captain), Thilaksha Sumanasiri (v.Captain), Sanesh de Mel, Helakamal Nanayakkara, Sahan Wijesinghe, Ravindu Tillekeratne, Danush Pieris, Nipuna Gamage, Deelaka Herath, Sachitha Jayatileka, Aktab Cader, Tharindu Ratnayake, Yohan Mendis, Lahiru Opatha, Cehnutha Wickermasinghe, Dulanga Silva, Sajana de Silva, Romesh Nallaperuma, Ishen Perera and Navodh Fernando.