- 145 Battle of the Blues – brought to you from the ‘Brumbies Tent’ at the SSC grounds
S. Thomas’ College will move into the 145th Battle of the Blues cricket encounter against traditional foe Royal College at the SSC ground on Thursday with haunting memories of last year when they went in as top dogs and were dramatically outplayed by their opponents in a shock result.
Twelve months later they return to the scene of the crime not wanting to make the same mistakes or blunders they committed in 2023 being the team with the best run-up results in 2024 compared to Royal who have been playing second fiddle to almost all their rivals this season.
Brumbies Tent (Thomian Batch of 87) – Arguably one of the best tents to be at the big match
The Thomians have recorded five outright wins in the season and possess one of the best batting line-ups among the schools with skipper Mahith Perera, Thisen Eheliyagoda and Dineth Goonewardena standing out as century makers with over 500 runs each.
Mahith Perera has accounted for three centuries but he’ll be the first to acknowledge that a traditional contest against Royal with so much at stake is no place to rest on laurels.
He will be one of the players to be haunted most by last year’s debacle and will want his team mates to rally around positively on all three days.
Mahith Perera has the resources at his disposal to prevent a successive tragedy and even go on to post a win and take sweet revenge for what happened 12 months ago, when the Thomians went in with their heads in the clouds and walked out with heads bowed, after receiving an unforgettable thrashing that virtually came out of the blues.
To prevent a repeat, the Thomian bowling duo of Abeeth Paranavidana and Yatinda Siriwardena will have to be in the forefront of the attack that is supplemented by allrounders Nathan Caldera, Aksash Fernando and Kavindu Dias.
Royal on the other hand will be happy to go in as underdogs yet again, with nothing to brag about by way of results in the run-up to their all-important contest. They were in the same vein as last year and the pundits had lost their armchair comforts by the time it was time for the Thomians to pack up.
But to expect a repeat from Royal will be asking for too much and lightning does not strike twice in the same place.
Royal skipper Sineth Jayawardena has the potential to be a stand-out player with the bat having led the Sri Lanka team at the Under-19 World Cup in January this year. But his form with the bat has let him down and a big occasion is also not the kind of place to count one’s chickens before the eggs can hatch. Nevertheless, his fans will want him to sign off on a high.
He will have to make sure other batters in the mould of Yasindu Dissanayake and Rehan Peiris with over 500 runs each under their belts can stand in the way of the Thomians.
Royal also have a capable allrounder in Ramiru Perera who has hit over 400 runs and taken 46 wickets with his off-spinners, while Yenula Bandara and Maliviarachchi cannot be counted out of what promises to be a much-awaited contest.
