The clash of the 83rd Battle of the Saints cricket encounter between St. Peter’s College Bambalapitiya and St. Joseph’s College Maradana for the Rev. Fr. Maurice Le Goc Challenge Trophy will be played at the P. Sara Oval on Friday and Saturday.
Of the 82 matches played so far the Peterites have won on 10 occasions.
According to form of the two teams St. Peter’s led by dashing batsman cum Sri Lanka national under 19 player Lakshina Rodrigo who is the son of famous cricketer Priyalal Rodrigo, will be coming into this game full of confidence and with a slight edge as they are unbeaten having recorded five outright wins against St, Mary’s College, Kegalle, St. Anthony’s College Wattala, St. Sebastian’s College Moratuwa, St. Benedict’s College, Kotahena and Maris Stella Negombo.
The Peterites posses a strong batting line up and they have four centurions in their side. Rodrigo tops the batting average and has scored over 900 runs this season while Santhush Gunathilake is the highest run getter for Peters with a tally of over 950 runs. They will be the mainstays of the Peterite batting department.
The other top scorers are Shalith Fernando close to 750 runs, vice captain Manelker de Silva 650 runs, Anishka Perera 500 plus runs, Ranmith Jayasena 400 runs and Vinul Gunawardena close to 350 runs will be expected to contribute and bolster the Peter’s scoreboard.
There is no shortage of armour in their bowling attack too and they will be banking heavily on two bowlers left-arm spinner Mohammad Ameen Miflal their top wicket-taker with over 100 scalps and off-spinner Chathura Obeysekara who has taken over 75 wickets. They have plenty more in the spinning department with off spinner Sachin Silva who has taken nearly 30 scalps along with Santhush Gunathilaka 30 wickets and Manelker de Silva 20 to give the senior duo the backing in the bowling department.
St.Peter’s will be once again coached by their 1998 captain who scored a breathtaking 159 in the big match and Sri Lanka national cricketer Malinda Warnapura, who guided them to a sensational double by winning both the big match and the limited over encounters convincingly under all-rounder Vinu Mohotty last year.
Warnapura said, “We have won five games this year due to having a balanced side with skipper Lakshina and Santhush leading the way in the batting department. We are also lucky to have a fabulous bowling coach in Crishantha Peiris who knows our pulse and the legacy of our college being a Peterite himself. He has produced three wicket-taking match winners in spinners Ameen who has got 100 wickets under his belt, Chathura 75 scalps and Sachin 30 wickets. This is the main reason we have recorded five outright wins. We will give our everything against the Joes to finish on a high.”
An outcome of the match will depend on who will have the upperhand of scoring more runs in the first innings due to the 60 overs restriction.
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