137th Battle of the Blues:

Thomians plan Royal invasion

Like it or not, S. Thomas' College will be the undisputed favourite ahead of Royal College at the 137th Battle of the Blues big match inter school cricket encounter which will be played from March 10 to12 at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground in Colombo.

The two teams play for the DS Senanayake memorial shield which is currently with Royal after their win by six wickets in 2013 under the captaincy of Devin Pathmanathan..

The last time S. Thomas' won was in 2007 when the side was led by Ashan Peiris.

The contest is once again backed by the country's premier mobile phone service provider Dialog Axiata which introduced the two teams to the media at a launch on Monday at the Sports Ministry Auditorium Race Course in Colombo.

Versatile sportsman Sachitha Jayatilleke captains the Thomians while Royal will be led by Geeshath Panditharatne.

Popularly known as the Royal-Thomian, the match is the second oldest cricket encounter in the world having commenced in 1879 a year after St. Peter's College and Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, Australia played their first match in 1878.

Both Royal and S. Thomas' have won 34 matches each with the rest drawn in the series.

This season Royal played 21 matches and won four outright against Royal Panadura, St. Anthony's Katugastota, St. Joseph's Colombo and De Mazenod Kandana. They were routed by Trinity last week.

Royal also recorded first innings wins over St. John's Jaffna, Richmond, Thurstan, St.Sebastian's, Zahira, Mahanama, Ananda, St. Benedict's, Maris Stella, Prince of Wales, Wesley and St. Aloysius' Galle. They lost to St. Peter's, Mahinda and Isipathana on first innings.

S. Thomas' College go in with an envious track record as an unconquered side with seven outright wins against St. Anthony's Katugastota, Joseph Vaz Wennappuwa, President's Kotte, St. Benedict's, Wesley, Nalanda and De Mazenod. They lost on first innings to Thurstan, Richmond and St. Joseph's and posted first innings wins over Prince of Wales, Mahinda, Dharmapala, St. John's Jaffna, D.S. Senanayake, St.Sylvester's, Ananda, St. Peter's, St. Sebastian's, Trinity and Richmond.

There are two Royal batsmen, deputy skipper Thiran Dhanapala and skipper Geeshanth Panditharatne who have scored more than 1000 runs. Dhanapala scored 1107 runs with four centuries and four half centuries. He helped the team as wicketkeeper with 48 victims, 34 catches and 14 stumpings. Panditharathne scored 1039 runs with three centuries and three half centuries while NaveenVidanapathirana the opener scored 853 runs with a ton and six half tons. Ronuka Jayawardena has scored 694 runs while Pasindu Sooriyabandara made 648 runs with two centuries. Lasith Embuldeniya the left arm spinner is Royal's main strike bowler the Thomians will have to keep out. He captured 118 wickets, the leading wicket taker in the school cricket season.

Ganith Sandeepa captured 39 wickets while Himesh Ramanayake took 32. For the Thomians, Rashmika Opatha scored 832 runs with two hundreds and five half tons while deputy skipper Yohan Mendis scored 770 runs. Skipper Sachitha Jayatilleke smashed 758 runs with seven half centuries while also accounting for 79 wickets making him the leading wicket-taker in the side.

Ravindu Kodituwakku passed 700 runs with a century and four half centuries while Dilendra Gunatilleke aggregated 691 runs with a century and five half centuries. He is also the wicket keeper with 52 victims, 39 catches and 13 stumpings.

Romesh Nallaperuma and Ravindu Tillekeratne passed 300 runs while the latter also accounted for 59 wickets.

Dellon Peiris (41wickets), Shenal de Silva (39 wickets) and Dineth Kannangara (31 wickets) have also contributed with the ball.

- (YK)