Thomians have the edge, but Royal are no write off
Its celebration time again for the young and old of two prestigious institutions in the island - - Royal and S. Thomas’ when their cricketers battle it out in the 133rd Battle of Blues over three days beginning from March 8 at the SSC grounds. This match deemed to be the second oldest inter- schools encounter in the world also has the honour of staving off two World wars.
Joining the celebrations will be the young and old boys domiciled in various countries around the world converging along with the present boys in a carnival atmosphere.
The Thomians are the favourites to pull off the game and they will be led by Sachin Peiris who possesses a fine all round team while underdogs Royal will be led by Imal Liyanage fielding a young side.
Royal who had their own ups and downs during this season even for reasons beyond cricket itself have not had the time to settle in as a cohesive unit. They will definite encounter some on field problems in tackling the skills of the Thomian outfit who have had a successful season this year recording seven outright wins over Mahinda, Thurstan, Revatha MMV, Holy Cross Ka- lutara, St. Aloysius Galle, St. John’s Jaffna and Prince of Wales’ before undergoing a setback when they were defeated by Trinity.
In contrast Royal cannot be happy with their performance this season being able to record only one outright win against Isipathana whilst having their pride tarnished by Richmond, St. Sebastian’s and Wesley.
Yet since the re- instatement regular skipper Imal Liyanage Royal seems to have found some lost rhythm in their batting as they piled up a huge 456 for 7 declared runs in their game against their neighbours Thurstan where Ronuka Ahangamage and Milan Abaysekera hit two centuries while skipper Liyanage missed the ‘ ton’ by eight runs. Yet the game ended in a draw. The Thomian batting will revolve around Asiri Wickramanayake who has three tons to his credit this season, Chamod Pathirana, skipper Sachin Peiris, Javed Bongso and Rishane Mathangaweera are the other centurions while Thilaksha Sumanasiri also has batted with purpose.
The Thomian bowling will be spearheaded by Madushan Ravichandrakumar and Thilaksha Sumanasiri who is turning out to be a fine all rounder, Rishane, Chamod and Neomal Wickramasekera who only came into the side during the latter part of the season.
The Royalists on the other hand have had fluctuated fortunes. In the early part of the season they underwent a shocking defeat to Richmond and later the team was deple- ted due to the unavailability of some senior players.
The Royal batting will be spearheaded by skipper Imal Liyanage who although forced to miss some games came back showed his prowess. He will be the player that the Thomians will have to watch.
Then there is Chamikara Karunaratne who has been performing fairly well in both the batting and bowling departments. Also a lot is expected from Ronuka Ahangamage, Milan Abaysekera, Supun Subasinghe and Poorna Aluthge.
The bowling in the Royal camp will be in the hands of Devind Pathmanathan, Chamika Karunaratne, Harith Samarasinghe, and Anupa Tillekeratne who together will have put in some effort if they are to curtail the Thomians from posting a big score.
From the 132 matches played so far the tally stands at 34 wins for the Thomians and 33 for the Royalists with the rest ending in draws.
Royal’s last win was recorded in 2006 under the leadership of Nadun Punchihewa while the Thomians retaliated by winning the match the next year under Ashan Peiris.
The two teams have some records to be surpassed. Royal’s Sumithra Warnakulasuriya has the highest individual score of 197 which he made in 1980 and Duleep Mendis holds the Thomian record of 184 made in 1972. The partnership of 254 runs for the third wicket, between Anushka Polonowita and Yasas Dharmaratne made in 1996, stands as the best for any wicket in the series.
Royal holds the record of the highest score of the series of 432 for 9 declared which they achieved in 2006 eclipsing the best of 388 for 9 held by the Thomians.
So though the scales are in favour of the Thomians they cannot stand on their laurels as the underdogs have stood up in this traditional encounter notoriously.
S. Thomas’ squad: Sachin Peiris (Captain), Umesh Fernando (Vice Captain), Madushan Ravichandrakumar, Chamodh Pathirana, Rishen Mathangaweera, Javed Bongso, Asiri Wickramanayake, Ramith Gunaratne, Neomal Wickramasekera, Thilaksha Sumanasiri, Navod Henakankanamge, Shiven Perera, Usman Ishak, Sanesh de Mel, Akthab Abdul Cader, Sahan Wijesinghe, Devin Jayasinghe, Danush Peiris, Bashitha Jayasuriya, Lakshan Weerakoon, Dilum Fernando.
Royal squad: Imal Liyanage ( Captain), Heshan Kumarasiri (Vice Captain), Gaurav Deva, Anjana Kudahetty, Devin Pathmanadan, Supem Subasinghe, Milan Abeysekara, Poorna Aluthge, Prabath Sampath, Heshan Ramanayake, Raonaka Abeywardene, Chamika Karunaratne, Anup Thillekeratne, Isuru Gunathilleke, Harith Samarasinghe.