Thomians rely on batsmen to deliver

Dinesh WEERAWANSA

S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia are out to make use of their unbeaten run and exert pressure on their unsettled opponents Royal College, Colombo in their 132nd Battle of the Blues three-day cricket encounter which starts at SSC grounds, Colombo tomorrow.

During the last several years, S.Thomas’ have walked into the big ‘un with a fancied team but ultimately failed to live up to expectations. But the lads from Mount Lavinia are not going to let that happen this time around and are fully focused on taking advantage from the very first ball.

They have plenty of things to feel so and are capable of doing that too. Though they have not registered massive wins against the big names, the Thomians have relatively enjoyed a good season to remain unbeaten after 18 outings in the current season.

They have registered wins over Revatha Maha Vidyalaya, Balapitiya and Dharmapala Vidyalaya, Pannipitiya. The Thomians are aware of the fact that their opponents have not settled well as a single unit, though they have a formidable team on paper. On the other hand, the Thomians have made a reasonable use of their talents and are determined to give their opponents a testing time.

Leading the team from Mount Lavinia is third year coloursman Chamod Pathirana who has led from front as a true captain. He has given a good account of his all-round performance this season with a rich harvest of nearly 500 runs and also captured over 40 wickets.

His most notable performance with the ball this season was a penetrative 6 for 63 against St. Benedict’s.

His inspiration will be a big boost for the team as Pathirana makes a notable contribution to strengthen both batting and bowling departments. He is also a sharp fielder at any position.

Wicket keeper batsman Sachin Peiris is the vice captain of the Thomian side which boasts of not less than nine coloursmen. Besides his smart work behind the stumps with 41 victims, Peiris has let his willow to do most of the talking, aggregating nearly 700 runs this season.

But the man to watch in the Thomian batting line-up will be second year coloursman Nuwan Kavinda who looks forward to complete his magical 1,000-run milestone this season at the big match. Having scored 930 runs this season, the middle order bat Kavinda looks forward to play another memorable innings when it matters the most.

The Thomian batting mainly revolves around Pathirana, Peiris and Kavinda and one of them must play a solid anchor role if the Mount Lavinia boys are to put up decent total on the board.

Freshers Asiri Wickremanayake and Javed Bongso who has scored over 650 run and 300 runs respectively this season, could pose additional problems to Royal bowlers. Wickremanayake’s best effort for the season was that majestic 110 not out against Revatha MV.

S. Thomas’ bowling largely depends on spin and it all depends on how Royal could read the vicious spin of Madushan Ravinchandrakumar (right-arm leg - 61 wickets), Neomal Wickremasekera (left-arm leg - 41 wickets) and Umesh Fernando (right-arm off - 32 wickets). But captain Pathirana could fill the vacuum in the pace department.

The Thomian batting is in top nick, having scored totals in the excess of 250 runs in last two outings. Nuwan Kavinda has been in constant form, especially during the last four to five matches and could well be a dangerous opponent for Royal bowlers.

Of the five encounters which produced results since 1997, S.Thomas’ has emerged victorious on four times with the most recent being their innings win in 2007 under T A M Peiris. But the Battle of the Blues has not produced a result since then.

The last instance the Thomians registered successive wins in the series was way back in 1952 and 1953 under C.A. Barrow and Ian Peiris respectively. During that 1953 innings win by the Thomians, former SLC chief Ian Peiris and former Chief Editor of the Daily News, Geoff Wijesingha shared a record 187-run partnership which was a Thomian record for any wicket until recently.

It was at the 128th Battle of the Blues that this Peiris-Wijesinghe record was shattered after 53 years with a 238-run alliance between Ashan Peiris (161) and Nisham Mazahir (162) who established the first double century stand for the Thomians.

S Thomas’ lost the first two matches of the Battle of the Blues series after its inauguration in 1880 before first tasting victory in 1882 under F.W. Mc Donnel. But that wait proved to be productive as S.Thomas’ went on to complete a hat-trick of big match wins from 1882 to 1884. Over the years, S. Thomas’ has made some lavish contribution to Sri Lanka cricket, producing some of the top national players.

The most notable them of all is undoubtedly Sri Lanka Test captain and former CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket Duleep Mendis who still accounts for the highest individual innings by a Thomian in the Battle of the Blues series.

Of the 131 previous meetings between two of the oldest cricket playing schools in the country, S. Thomas’ takes a narrow lead with 34 wins to Royal`s 33 with the rest drawn.