- 145th Battle of the Blues (Day 1) – Live from the Brumbies Tent
S.Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia ended day one on a score that their skipper Mahith Perera wished for at the toss when they were eventually bowled out for 297 runs off 88.2 overs and in all probability will now look to bundle out Royal soon when day two commences at the SSC Grounds in Colombo.
The Thomians paced their innings and scored 97, 80 and 120 runs in each session of play losing a wicket on either side of lunch and eventually losing their balance 8 wickets in the last session when they were seeking to post 300 runs.
In all probability the Thomians could have reached a much bigger total but were thwarted by the Royal spinners who curtailed their innings by slowing down their scoring rate especially in the second session of play.
It was in this session that the Thomian top scorer Sadev Soyza was also out for 83 runs to a soft dismissal when he attempted to up the scoring rate.
The Thomians were a tad guilty too of throwing their wickets away after their seven top batters all got into double figures.
Sadev, Soyza (83), Mahith Perera (36), Dineth Gunawardena (50), Thishan Eheliyagoda (16) and Nathan Caldera (44) looked solid during their innings but but virtually out much against the run of play.
Credit must be given to the Royal skipper Sineth Jayawardena who bowled intelligently throughout the innings when he went on to capture both Thomian openers Senandhi Bulankulame and Sadev Soyza and also prized the scalp of Thomian skipper Mahith Perera and later on Ashen Perera to give him a rich haul of wickets and figures of 4 for 68 off 25 overs.
Partnering the Royal skipper and bowling in tandem was their leg spinner Ramiru Perera who also ended with four Thomian wickets and in the process reached 50 wickets during the season.
Perera ended with figures of 4 for 55 claiming all of his wickets in the last session of play, especially when the Thomians were going for their runs and in their haste of making a possible declaration.
The Royal fielding was somewhat a bit scratchy at times where they dropped a few catches and were also guilty of a missed stumping. Thomian opener Sadev Soyza was the fortunate one on these occasions surviving two dropped catches and also a stumping.
Many would perhaps believe that the Thomians won all three sessions of play on day one and now looked set to bundle out the Royalists and make them follow on. Perhaps many Thomians also do believe that this team would bring back the D.S.Senanayake Shield back to Mount Lavinia and in the process hand it to their Warden Rev. Marc Billimoria as a parting gift as he is said to be ending his term after serving his very own alma mater for a decade.
But the Royalists on the other hand will be having their very own set of hopes and beliefs too.
Perhaps they believe that they managed to get back into the game by claiming the last eight Thomian wickets for 110 runs and also for keeping their opponents score under 300 runs.
Historically, Royal have come back into the game and have turn things around on multiple occasions and this instance is not unfamiliar territory they current tread on.
They perhaps also believe that they could bat the entire day two and score 120 runs per session and go past the Thomians total.
Come what may, the Royal Thomian encounter has over the years seen many strange things happen in the past and it will be interesting to follow this encounter as day two unfolds.
The Royal Thomian Big Match – A proud national product
The Royal Thomian big match is arguably the most looked forward to and attended schoolboy event in the world which attracts over 30,000 spectators each year. The event by itself is now grown into being a national product which generates direct revenue to the organizers of both colleges and also generates much needed indirect revenue to the country.
This year the old boys of both colleges even chartered an Airbus aircraft from SriLankan Airlines and used it to fly down several old boys of both schools from Melbourne, Australia to attend the big match.
Both Royalists and Thomians believe that this event brings about the best in each other and it doesn’t really matter if you are a Royalist or a Thomian, where friendly rivalry takes place on the field of play and lifelong friendships are fostered beyond the boundary ropes.
Someone once said that there is no Royal without S.Thomas’ and that there is no S.Thomas’ without Royal.
However, an ardent old Thomian Thikshan Arulampalam posting a comment on social media aptly put it best. He wrote – “The Roy-Tho isn’t just an event; it’s a cosmic call that some find hard to decode. For wanderers like me, it’s the ultimate journey, a sacred tradition when the stars align and I’m in Sri Lanka’s embrace. And because life’s too short for the mundane, I’ve gone full digital nomad and passed the baton to my “AI Assitant” for the daily grind. Now, my spirit’s free to chase these mystical moments at the SSC, undistracted and unbound.”
