The saints are ready to march on and this will be 75th occasion that the two leading catholic institutions will test their skills with the willow. Two days of entertaining cricket is on the cards between the two schools is set to take place on March 6 and 7 at the P. Sara Stadium.
This year the encounter will be of great significance as old boys domiciled in many countries.from both the institutions are looking out to make their presence felt and celebrate the Platinum Jubilee and the quest for Fr. Maurice Legoc trophy which is on offer.
Fr. Maurice Legoc has been as the Rector of both schools and the trophy for this big ‘un is named in his honour. His first stint was with St Joseph’s and then became the first Rector of St Peter’s.
The annual encounter began way back in 1933 which was played at Bambalapitiya with St Joseph’s winning it.
Since then in the 74 clashes between the two schools so far, St Joseph’s leads the series with 12 victories as against the seven won by St Peter’s. But the clash this year is going to be a close tussle but the Petes have a slight edge over the Joes due to the fact their approach to the game this season has been more positive.
On the other side the Petes captain Angelo Perera has been leading the team from the front. On the other hand the Joes skipper Shameera Weerasinghe too has been a leader of quality.
On paper as mentioned before the Petes have a better record having ten outright wins this season. They began with a win against Joseph Vaz Wennappuwa and then followed it up with wins against Trinity, Kalutara MV, St Benedict’s, St Sebastian’s, St Aloysius, Maris Stella, Isipathana, St Anthony’s and concluded the season with an easy win over Revatha MMV Balapitiya.
Their record was tarnished by Ananda when they were narrowly beaten. The Josephians on the other hand are unbeaten and have registered four outright wins against Isipathana, Maris Stella, De Mazenod and S, Thomas’. So looking back at the performances of both the teams the Peterites have a slight edge.
Also Peterite skipper Angelo Perera and his team mates will no doubt come in to the game with the idea of avenging their defeat to the traditional rivals where they lost by an innings and 42 runs and also break the 30 year old hoodoo. The Peterites last won in 1978 when the side was led by Suraj Abeysekera.
Joesphian skipper Shameera Weerasinghe will strive to make it two in a row but the Petes this year are no pushovers. Shameera is their top scorer for the Joes having accumulated 892 runs with four tons and three half centuries and also is the leading wicket taker capturing 92 wickets from 14 matches. He will be expecting Nishika de Silva and Hareen Silva’s support if they are to give the Petes a challenge.
St Peter’s skipper Angelo Perera has been in terrific form and he will be the cynosure of all eyes. Angelo so far this season scored 1468 runs from 17 matches with five tons and six half tons and a best of 239 against Nalanda. Of course in last years encounter he failed to impress. But this season he has been a player of different quality.
His trump cards will be openers Andri Berenger and Denham Perera with Shivanga Ranasuriya and all rounder Chathura Peiris to give the support. But the final analysis for the two teams will be their top order batting and the opening bowlers
Travis Fernando, the captain of the winning St. Peter’s team in 1965 who played in five ‘Big Matches’ will be the chief guest. But with the two teams well balanced a clean tussle could be expected.The teams:
St Joseph’ – Shameera Weerasinghe (Capt), Treshan Rajasooriya, Nishika de Silva, Dinal Damabarage, Chathuranga Kumara, Hareen Silva, Jaan Jayasinghe, Rosco Thatil, Anushka Shakthi, Ramesh Vidanaarachchi, Shija Seneviratne, Vidusha Jayasinghe, Dinal Fonseka, Ashan Vithanage.
St Peter’s – Angelo Perera (Capt), Chathura Peiris, Shivanga Ranasuriya, Vinodh Perera, Andri Berenger, Denham Perera, Angelo Emmanuel, Kaushal Rodrigo, Nilochana Perera, Damian Nadian, Akshu Fernando, Isuru Peiris, Hashan Wickramasuriya, Asif Mackie, Sidath Jayaweera |
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