Ananda-Petes clash the best encounter this weekend

Chris Dhambarage

CRICKET: The reigning champions St. Peter's College will face their moment of truth when they take on the high riding Ananda College in a key inter school cricket tournament match at Bambalapitiya starting today.

Both teams are on a high note having registered convincing victories in their previous outings worked off just a couple of days ago. The Peterites trounced St. Benedict's College by an innings and 17 runs at Kotahena and the Anandians also cruised to an innings and ten runs victory over Dharamasoka College at Ananda Mawatha.

This time however the Peterites will be under tremendous pressure as they will be up against a penetrative bowling attack which will be spearheaded by Malith Gunatilleke. The left arm spinner played a dominant role in Ananda's success two days ago with a match bag of eight wickets.

The Peterites of course do have a formidable batting line up with skipper Lahiru Peiris, Shiwanga Ranasuriya, Krishal Magage and Mevan Samarasekera leading the way.

In fact both Peiris and Ranasuriya are in excellent form having completed half centuries in the previous outing and will be out produce a repeat performance. The other key player in the Peterite side will be their leg spinner Lakshan Rodrigo who mesmerised the Benedictines with a match bag of ten wickets.

Meanwhile St. Joseph's College will be hoping to register their sixth outright victory this season when they take on St. Benedict's College in their annual encounter at Darley Road starting today.

The Josephians of course have already made a great start to the new inter school cricket season having recorded five outright victories from six outings and are well set to regain the 'A' division league title and the Elephant Lemonade Trophy. Last week however they were held to a draw by St. Sebastian's College but this time they will be more than determined to pull off this game on their home grounds.

The inter school fixture between Wesley College and Trinity College Kandy should also turn into an interesting contest at Campbell Park starting today.

The cynosure of all eyes will no doubt be on Sri Lanka Youth cap and Trinity College captain Sachith Pathirana who has struck early form with both bat and ball. His best effort this season certainly came in the previous outing against their home town rivals Kingswood College Kandy where he hit a swashbuckling 97 in even time.

Pathirana played another significant role in the game against the reigning 'A' division league champions St. Peter's College with another brilliant all round performance. His six wicket haul reduced the strong Peterite batting line up for 191 runs and then followed up with a hard hit 58 which helped Trinity College reach 152 for 6 in reply.

Meanwhile S. Thomas' College Mount Lavinia will face a tough task when they take on Nalanda College in another important inter school fixture at Campbell Place starting today.

The Thomians of course have experienced mixed fortunes during their couple of outings this season with most of their games been interrupted by bad weather.