140th Battle of the Blues: Thomians brimming with confidence

(FASTNEWS|COLOMBO) – S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia will have the edge over Royal College and will be pressing for a win when they meet their traditional rivals in the 140th Battle of the Blues three-day cricket encounter which will take place at SSC grounds from March 7-9. This match is played for the prestigious D. S. Senanayake Memorial Shield.

The Mount Lavinia boys are famous for their fighting qualities and they last proved what the Thomian grit is all about at the centenary year’s encounter in 1979 when hero of the game Mahinda Halangoda (former SSC captain) with a spectacular unbeaten innings of 70 teamed up with fast bowler C.P. Richards 20 not out (playing only his second match for the season) figured in a match saving unbroken 91-run partnership for the ninth wicket to earn a honourable draw after they were reealing at 161 for 8 at the tea break and needing another seven runs to make Royal bat again.

The Thomians have been shaping well with six wins against St.Aloysius College Galle, St.Mary’s College Kegalle, Prince of Wales College Moratuwa, Ananda College Colombo, Mahanama College Colombo and St.Benedict’s College Kotahena this season.

Burly Sithara Hapuhinna is the captain of the side. He is the highest run getter for the Mount Lavinia who has scored nearly 850 runs with two hundreds and four fifties. Besides his useful contributions as a Left handed opening batsman this season, he has shown great success as the wicket keeper of the side as well where he has claimed 52 victims behind the stumps. Another left hander Shalin De Mel has also shown great form scoring over 650 runs with two hundreds and two fifties. Batsman Ravindu De Silva has also aggregated nearly 500 runs with a top score of 122.

Among the others who are capable of keeping the scoreboard moving are Sri Lanka national under 19 player cum left hander Kalana Perera (close to 450 runs) together with Umayanga Swaris (over 400 runs) along with batsman Deon Frnando ( The younger brother of Shanon Fernando) who has nearly 400 runs under his belt.

They have the services of Kalana Perera, who has turned out to be a vital cog in the Sri Lanka youth team playing in the ICC Under 19 World Cup. He is the highest Thomian wicket taker this season with 76 wickets with the best bowling of 8 for 01 against St.Mary’s College.

But the deadliest weapons in the Thomian bowling armoury will be the left arm leg breaks of last years skipper Dellon Peiris, who has a total of nearly 74 wickets.He has produced a season’s best innings analysis of 7 for 26 against Wesley College.

Although S. Thomas’ will be over dependent on Kalana and Dellon there are few others who could pose a serious threat to the Royal batting line up like Dilmin Rathnayake 39 wickets along with left arm leg spinner Shannon Fernando who has 36 wickets to his credit.

D. S. Senanayake, who became the first Prime Minister of independent Ceylon, donned the Thomian cap in 1901 and 1902.

Other notable S. Thomas’ players who have played in the Royal-Thomian cricket match are Dudley Senanayake, Vernon Prins, Michael Tissera, Anura Tennekoon, Buddy Reid, Mano Ponniah, Bradman Weerakoon, Duleep Mendis, Guy de Alwis, Mahinda Halangoda, Aruna Gunawardene, Saliya Ahangama, Kaushik Amalean, Kapila Wijegunawardene, Johanne Samarasekera, Nisal Fernando, Manoj Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Kaushal Silva, S. Saravanamuttu, P. Saravanamuttu, M. Saravanamuttu, Mevan Pieris, Ranil Abeynaike, Shantha Kottegoda and Michael Jayasekera to name a few.

The first century in the series came in the 38th encounter in 1917, when Thomian batsman B.T Janz scored 103. David Ponniah (100 not out in 1967) and Manoj Mendis (124 in 1992) remain as the only Thomians to score centuries on debut.

The rare occasion of scoring more than one century during their Royal-Thomian careers is shared by Thomians Duleep Mendis (1971 & 1972), his nephew Manoj Mendis (1992 & 1993) and Ashan Pieris (2005 & 2007). Only three Thomians have achieved a rare batting double (a century and a fifty) in the same game. They are Willie Jayetileke (62 & 110 not out) in 1937, former Colts CC opener Dhammika Bulankulame (108 & 72) in 1984 and present Sri Lanka all rounder Jeevan Mendis (111 & 54) in 2001. Ex-Thomian and Sri Lanka Test skipper Duleep Mendis, who steamrolled the opposition with 184 in 1972 is still S. Thomas’ College highest individual scorer.

S. Thomas’ is coached by experienced Dinesh Kumarasinghe, who has nearly 30 years of experience in cricket coaching. So far out of the 139 encounters that have been played, the Thomians have won on 34 occasions with their last win coming in 2007 under Ashan Peiris.

Courtesy: DN Sports