Starting today, 131st Battle of the Blues at SSC grounds :

Thomians wary of Thanthirigoda

Dinesh WEERAWANSA

Royal College, Colombo should hold the key in their 131st Battle of the Blues three-day cricket encounter against S.Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia which starts at Sinhalese Sports Club grounds, Colombo 7 today.

The Reid Avenue boys have a slightly better team on paper and will come in to the big ‘un as favourites. Their team looks better both in experience and talent but to which extent they could capitalize on this early advantage is left to be seen.

A few key players from both sides, who have fared exceptionally well this season, should play decisive roles. Nevertheless, season’s performances perhaps could turn out to be unimportant factors when it comes to the big ‘un. Hence, it could well be anybody’s game but the side which takes the upper hand in the first session, could well take the driving seat in the three-day encounter.

Treat Maneesha Thanthirigoda’s deliveries with respect! Undoubtedly that could well be the message from the Thomian coach to his batsmen. There are plenty of reasons to say so as Thanthirigoda’s vicious leg breaks have shown no mercy on opponents. The fourth-year coloursman became the first Royal bowler to capture 100 wickets in a season.

Besides his magical innings analysis of 8 for 32 against St.Peter’s, 8 for 48 against Dharmaraja, 7 for 49 against Maliyadeva, 7 for 48 against St. Joseph’s and 6 for 18 against Wesley, Thanthirigoda became only the second Royalist in recent times to capture four wickets in four successive balls after Chaminda Fernando. Thanthirigoda achieved this rare feat in their match against St.Anthony’s, Katugastota.

At the same time, message from Royal coach Gamini Perera, who led his alma mater in 1993, would be to get Nuwan Kavinda early. He has scored nearly 1,100 runs this season. Once Kavinda’s willow starts talking, its simply unstoppable. The Royalists are well aware of this and if they could get Kavinda and Ashen Fernando early, half of their battle would be over.

Royal run machine is fitted with two turbo engines in skipper Bhanuka Rajapakse and Ramith Rambukwella. After returning to the side following a stint with the Sri Lanka youth team, Rajapakse has scored heavily in the last few games – 65 vs. Wesley, 89 vs. Prince of Wales, 35 and 103 vs. Trinity and 132 vs. St.Sebastian’s. He is well set to take the same rhythm to this all-important game too.

Rambukwella has been the most consistent Royal batsman, scoring over 900 runs. He is well set to signal his second successive big match appearance by competing that memorable 1,000-run milestone. He has three centuries to his credit, going past the three-figure mark against St. Joseph’s (110), St. Peter’s (103) and Maliyadeva (100).

Unless they get Rajapakse and Rambukwella early, the Thomians would not be in a position to think of a win or, coming closer to a win for that matter. Hence, S.Thomas’ captain has instructed his bowlers not to allow these two elegant stroke makers to settle down in the middle for long. On the other hand, if Rajapakse and Rambukwella get going, it would be a tall order for the Thomians.

The SSC wicket is known to be a batsman’s paradise and winning the toss this morning is going to be a big bonus. But that does not mean that the side winning the toss would automatically be elevated to a top position.

Batting in the initial hour this morning could be a gamble, unless the side taking the first lease of the wicket is cautious. But if they could negotiate the pre-lunch session, there could be plenty of runs for them in this wicket.

However, the prevailing dry weather could offer spinners an equally good share, which is something unusual on the SSC track. However, if Thomians happen to bat in the fourth innings of the match on Saturday, leg spinner Thanthirigoda could play havoc and is capable of driving Royal towards victory single handedly.

Knowing this danger too well, the Thomians would not hesitate to bat first if Dinesh Walpita calls correctly this morning. Both teams have delayed announcing their final X1 until this morning, though both Royal and S. Thomas’ have virtually finalised their teams and pre-match strategies.

Whatever the outcome would be, the Royal-Thomian series will maintain its high traditions which are hard to match.

It is not just another inter-school cricket match but a social event which attracts guests from all corners of the globe as the Royalists and Thomians young and old domiciled both in the West and the East would make it a point to grace this much looked forward to event.

The Royal-Thomian series has long traditions and remarkable achievements.

The longest unbeaten era for Royal in the series was from 1965 to 1987. During the 23-year period without a single big match defeat, Royal emerged victorious on two occasions while the rest of the 21 games were drawn.

Royal’s last back-to-back wins in the series was in 1990 and 1991 under Udaya Lakmal Wijesena and Rohan Irriyagolla respectively. Having lost the 2007 encounter by an innings and 44-runs inside two days and 95 minutes of play, followed by a drawn game last year, it’s Royal’s turn to pull off a win to level the series, which began way back in 1879.

Former Sri Lanka Board X1 player Sumithra Warnakulasuriya (Royal) continues to hold the record for the highest individual innings in the series for his marathon knock of 197 was made in 1980.

Besides Warnakulasuriya’s dream knock on debut, the only other Royalist to score a ‘big match century’ on debut is Jagath Pattiarachchi (100 n.o in 1974).

Royal also accounts for the highest ever partnership for any wicket in the series - 254 runs (for the third wicket) between Anushka Polonnowita (164) and Yasas Dharmarathne (124) in 1996. Nigel Fernando is the youngest ever Royal captain in the series. He was only six days short of his 17th birthday when he led the Reid Avenue school in 1989. Of the 130 encounters played todate, S.Thomas’ takes a lead with 34 wins to Royal’s 33 with the rest drawn.

The teams:

ROYAL COLLEGE: (From) Banuka Rajapakse (captain), Ramith Rambukwella, Chalaka Bogoda, Maneesha Tanthirigoda, Kithruwan Vithanage, Charutha Rajarathne, Imal Liyanage, Dhanika Rajakaruna, Tharindu Abeysekera, Madusha Rajaratne, Milan Abeysekera, Imran Khan, Mausha Gunarathne, Devin Pathmanathan, Chirath Devasurendra, Lakshitha Landewela, Garuv Deva, Prabath Sampath, Waruna Dissanayake, Shavindra Edirisuriya.

S. THOMAS’ COLLEGE: (From) Dinesh Walpita (captain), Lalindra Peiris, Ashane Fernando, Chamodh Pathirana, Sachin Peiris, Pasan Wijewardena, Brian Dharmasena, Kavindu Perera, Sachinda Liyanarachchi, Yasas Nanayakkara, Nilaksha Fernando, Dimitri Dolapihilla, Malinda Jayasinghe, Nuwan Kavinda, Neomal Wickremasekera, Madushan Ravichandrakumar, Umesh Fernando, Prabath Ariyaratne.