St. Peter’s Well Set For Historic Win

76th Battle of The Saints

St. Peter’s College is well set to increase their tally of wins to eight in the series when play resumes Saturday morning in the 76th Battle of the Saints against traditional rivals, St. Joseph’s College which began yesterday at the P. Sara Stadium. At close of play on day one St. Peter’s having been bowled out for a formidable 293 made in only 56.3 overs had the Joes on the ropes struggling on 132 for 7 made in 45 overs.
Each innings is restricted to 60 overs.
The match is played for the Rev. Fr. Maurice LeGoc Memorial Trophy and is sponsored by Ceylon Colts Stores Limited. The Josephians are the holders of the Trophy having won the 2008 Big Match under the captaincy of Ruwantha Fernandopulle at the same venue. St. Peter’s College last won way back in 1978 under the leadership of Suraj Abeysekera. It will take a job of Herculean proportions for the Joes to save the 76th encounter.
The powerful Peterite team includes four under 19 national players — Chatura Peiris, the left arm seamer fresh after captaining the Sri Lanka Under-19 side at the recent ICC Youth World Cup in New Zealand, wicket keeper batsman Andri Berenger, opening bowler Lahiru Jayaratne and middle order batsman Akshu Fernando.
The Peterites led from the start though losing the wicket of Andri Berenger with the score on 23. The toast of the Peterites was Shehan Fernando who made a top score of 83 off just 68 balls and was involved in two fruitful stands –  first with Angelo Emmanuel with whom he added 75 runs for the third wicket and the other of 57 runs for the eighth wicket with Lahiru Jayaratne.
For the Joes, pacie Chathuranga Kumara was the most successful bowler although initially he got clobbered. Kumara ended up with figures of 17.4-1-84-5. The Josephian Skipper Dinal Dambarage got hammered for 109 runs in his spell of 18 overs taking the solitary wicket of tail ender Dushan Herath.
The Josephians got off to the worst possible start with opener Keshan Perera being run out without troubling the scorers. Further disaster struck when Perera’s opening partner Vidusha Jayasinghe was struck by a rising delivery and had to retire having scored 35. According to initial reports from the dressing room he is unlikely to take any further part in the match.
With seven wickets down and Jayasinghe out of the match it is now left to the seasoned Jaan Jayasinghe who is unbeaten on 41 to see his team to safety with 15 overs left to bat out.

SCORE BOARD

ST. PETER’S 1ST INNINGS
Andri Berenger lbw b Kumara     06
Shehan Fernando c Vidanarachchi b Kumara     83
Denham Perera c K. Perera b Kumara     10
Angelo Emmanuel run out     42
Akshu Fernando b Kumara     28
Chathura Peiris c K. Perera b Kumara     19
Nilochana Perera c Fonseka b Thattil     21
Jason Buultjens run out     20
Lahiru Jayaratne b Jayatilleke     44
Dushan Hemantha c Jayatilleke b Dhambarage     04
Janika Kannangara not out     00
Extras (7lb, 9w)     16
Total all out in 56.3 overs     293
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-55, 3-130, 4-156, 5-182, 6-212, 7-223, 8-280, 9-292
Bowling: Dinal Dhambarage 18-1-109-1, Chathuranga Kumara 17.4-1-84-5, Supeshala Jayatilleke 12.3-1-38-1, Rosco Thatil 7-0-42-1, Ramesh Vidanarachchi 1.2-0-13-0

ST. JOSEPH’S 1ST INNINGS
Vidusha Jayasinghe retired not out     35
Keshan Perera run out     00
Enrico Silva lbw b Peiris     05
Sadeera Samarawickrama c Peiris b Jayaratne     19
Jaan Jayasinghe not out     41
Chathuranga Kumara c Berenger b Peiris     00
Rosco Thatil b Emmanuel     05
Supeshala Jayatilleke c and b Kannangara     02
Dinal Fonseka c Berenger b Kannangara     06
Ramesh Vidanarachchi not out     00
Extras (7b, 5w, 7nb)     19
Total for 7 wickets in 45 overs     132
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-10, 3-55, 4-76, 5-93, 6-107, 7-117
Bowling: Chathura Peiris 13-2-27-2, Lahiru Jayaratne 9-1-33-1, Nilochana Perera 6-1-13-0, Angelo Emmanuel 10-2-15-1