Hooligan Joes muck Peterite party
Sporting St. Joseph’s College rector Fr Travis
Gabriel awards win to St. Peter’s:
by Sajeewa Jayakody
Unruly supporters of St Joseph’s College behaving like hooligans
unbecoming of their school’s disciplinary image ruined their much hyped
about big match cricket encounter against traditional rival St.Peter’s
College who were deprived of a well deserved victory on the field in the
82nd Battle of the Saints at the P Sara Oval in Colombo yesterday.
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Scores of St. Joseph’s College supporters invade the P Sara
Oval in Colombo yesterday disrupting their big match against
St. Peter’s College yesterday (Picture by Thilak Perera) |
A genuinely concerned rector of St. Joseph’s College, Rev Fr Travis
Gabriel subsequently awarded the win to St. Peter’s College.
Unable to hide their disgraceful conduct with no regard for the rules
of fair-play and decency, the Joes supporters were hell bent on
preventing the Peterites from finishing off the match and invaded the
field many times much to the annoyance of genuine cricket fans of their
own school who could only bite their finger nails and watch the madness
in deep sorrow.
Chasing a target of 66 the Peterites were cruising at 59 for 4 with
Lakshina Rodrigo taking his side to the brink of victory as he gave the
Joes no room to save face on the field of play. But much to the
annoyance of the umpires, Rodrigo was stopped in his strides by the mobs
of Joes supporters who brought their institution to disrepute in ugly
scenes unseen in the past.
The umpires had no alternative but to call off the match with 2.4
overs remaining and the Peterites needing just seven more runs with six
wickets in the bag.
Independent analysts told the Sunday Observer that the disruption
only proved that school cricket was being run by a set of puppets in the
Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) whereas in any other
situation the offending school or team would be banned for the behaviour
of their supporters.
The Peterites probably secured the result on the first day itself
when they posted a rousing 304 for 9 declared and bowled out the Joes
for 106 to enforce the follow-on.
Resuming their second innings at 28 for no loss, the Joes were
finally bowled out for 263 after the tea break leaving the Peterites to
make 66 in 12 overs for victory which was never out of reach.
Scoreboard
St Peter’s College 1st innings 304-9 declared
(Manilka de Silva 71, H Wanasekera 59, Ranmith Jayasena 56)
St Joseph’s College 1st innings 106 (Taneesha Weerakoon 6-33)
St Joseph’s College 2nd innings
Revon Kelly c Rodrigo b R Silva 20
S. Rodrigo c Fernando b Weerakoon 31
Nipun Sumanasinghe run out 51
Jehan Daniel b Mohotti 01
Sahan Perera lbw Pathiranage 30
N Gunatilleka lbw Weerakoon 72
S. Fonseka c Fernando b Pathiranage 22
Malshan Rodrigo lbw Weerakoon 16
Charuka Ulandepitiya Mohotti 06
Harin Cooray b Weerakoon 06
Ruchira Ekanayake not out 00
Extras (w 1, nb 4, lb 3) 08
TOTAL (all out) 263
Fall of wickets: 1-42, 2-71, 3-93, 4-124,5-159, 6-185
206-7, 8-221, 9-258,
Bowling: Weerakoon 40.4-8-88-4
R Silva 15-2-44-1
Mohotti 23-8-53-2
S Pathiranage 17-3-39-2
R Seneviratne 8-2-24-0
M de Silva 4-1-12-0
St Peter’s 2nd innings (target 66)
Anishka Perera c Kelly b Daniel 02
I Fernando b Daniel 00
H Wanasekera c Rodrigo b Ekanayake 15
Lakshina Rodrigo not out 32
Manelka de Silva c Rodrigo b Ekanayake 02
Vinu Mohotti not out 00
Extras (w 7, b 1) 08
TOTAL (4 wickets) 59
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-11, 3-49, 4-59.
Bowling: Daniel 5-0-28-2
Cooray 2-0-15-0
Ekanayake 2.2-0-15-2 |
