CEYLON TODAY | Published: 2:00 AM Mar 8 2020
The 86th Battle of the Saints, Big Match encounter between traditional rivals St. Joseph’s College and St. Peter’s College ended in a high scoring draw at the P. Sara Oval, yesterday.
The hero’s on the second day were Petes’ Ruwin Senevirathne and Danal Hemananda who joined the list of half-centurions in the Big Match series.
Ruvin and Danal came together at a vital stage of the innings when their team were in a spot of bother. The duo did what exactly Peterite coach wanted as they put up an unbroken 88 run partnership for the 9th wicket.
A definite asset for future of Sri Lanka’s cricket Ruwin Senevirathne scored an unbeaten 53 while Danal Hemananda also scored a fighting half century to put their Alma Mater on top.
Earlier, Peterite Rishika Santhush also scored a brilliant 68 off 144 deliveries before Ruwin and Danal stood firm and held their nerve to rescue the side from danger with the fighting unfinished partnership.
As a result, St. Peter’s went on to amass a formidable 288 for eight wickets in their second innings while making some amends for their first innings’ batting debacle.
Earlier, St. Joseph’s put themselves in a strong position after Dineth Jayakody and Sadeesh Jayawardene anchored a record breaking 148 run partnership for the fifth wicket to end on top on Day one, but the duo failed to continue their momentum on day two and were eventually bowled out for 259 runs.
The Joes of course were well placed to reach a much bigger total in their first innings but they completely lost their way on the second day due to some accurate bowling from Vinuda Liyanage (4/56) and Trishen Herath (3/57).
St. Joseph’s College: 259 all out (51.3) (Dineth Jayakody 122, Sadeesh Jayawardana 70, V Liyanage 4/56)
St. Peter’s College: 224 all out (60) & 288/8 (87.4) (Rishika Santhush 68, Ruwin Senevirathne 53*, Danal Hemananda 50 *, Dunith Wellalage 4/84) (IR)(Pix by Kelum Chamara)
