Battle of the Saints (cricket)

The Battle of the Saints is the annual cricket contest between St. Joseph's College and St Peter's College in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which typically takes place in March. Inaugurated in 1933 by the Rectors of St.Joseph's and St. Peter's, the matches receive significant media and supporter attention, with the 2016 match being the 82nd encounter. The teams compete for the Reverend Father Maurice Legoc Trophy, named after the tournament's founder.[1]
For the past 82 matches, St. Joseph’s college have recorded 12 wins, while the Peterites have registered 10. The rest of the matches have ended up as a draw with no wins for either team. In 2008 St. Joseph’s college won the match, which ended a 35-year drought, and in 2010 St. Peter’s won the match after 32 years.[2]
In the series the highest score is recorded by St Joseph’s college, which is 382, made back in 1982, led by Ken Serpanchy, while St. Peter’s college best being 345 for 9 in 1938 under Percy Perera.

Battles of the Saints
Sport	Cricket
Timeline	1933 – present
Tournament format	Annual two-day encounter
Participants	St. Joseph's College Cricket team St Peter's College Cricket team
Current champion	St. Peter's College (2016)
Most successful	St. Joseph's College (12)

The lowest score was recorded by St. Peter's College in 1972 when they were bowled out for just 36. St Joseph’s college recorded their lowest score of 56 in 1938.

In the limited overs encounter Joes have bowled the Peterites thrice for less than 100 and the Peterites are yet to bowl the Josephians out for less than 100.

In the 42nd Annual 50 overs encounter Peterite batsman Hashan Wanasekera played a match-winning knock of 118 runs that set a record stand of 152 runs for any wicket for the Bambalapitiya school erasing the previous best partnership of 143 runs between Angelo Perera and Chathura Peiris in 2009. His partner was Lakshina Rodrigo who made 61.
[3]

The lowest total in the shorter format is also recorded by St. Peter's when they were bowled out for 58 runs in 2003 in response to St. Joseph's College score of 217, which incidentally is the highest winning margin.

In the longer version, Clive Inman of St. Peter's College holds the highest individual score which is 204 in 1954. Shenal Warnakula of St. Joseph's College holds the record as the most successful bowler in terms of wickets -taking 9 wickets for 41 in 1997.[4]

Notable persons who have played

ST. Joseph's College Ashley de Silva Ajith Weerakkody Roshan Abeysinghe Chaminda Vaas Michael Vandort Asela Pathirana Ian Daniels Angelo Mathews Thisara Perera Dimuth Karunaratne Sadeera Samarawickrama Roshen Silva

ST. Peter's College

• Roy Dias
• David Heyn
• Clive Inman
• Vinodhan John
• Tony Opatha
• Kirti Gooneratne
• Rumesh Ratnayake
• Amal Silva
• Russell Arnold
• Kaushal Lokuarachchi
• Malinda Warnapura
• Angelo Perera
• Andri Berenger
• H I K Fernando

Players who represented the National Team at Test Level

ST. Joseph's College Ashley de Silva Chaminda Vaas Michael Vandort Roshen Silva Sadeera Samarawickrama Angelo Mathews* Thisara Perera Dimuth Karunaratne *Captain of the national team (2013 - 2018)

ST. Peter's College Roy Dias Rumesh Ratnayake Vinodhan John Russell Arnold Kaushal Lokuarachchi Malinda Warnapura

Match history

Year	Encounter	Venue	Captains		1st INNINGS		2nd INNINGS		Result
			SJC	SPC	SJC	SPC	SJC	SPC
1933	1st	SPC	Robert Fernando	George Jayaweera	225	50		70	SJC
1934	2nd	SJC	Claude Wijesinghe	Sherley de s Illesinghe	380	139		39	SJC
1935	3rd	SPC	Claude Wijesinghe	Sherley de s Illesinghe	185	240	127/7		Draw
1936	4th	SJC	Malcolm Spittel	Tybalt Herath	289	222	63/3 dec.	51/3	Draw
1937	5th	SPC	Fred Perera	J Ray de Silva	253	183		236/8	Draw
1938	6th	SJC	Edward Markus	Percy Perera	56	345/9 dec.	227/4		Draw
1939	7th	SPC	Hector Perera Snr.	Joe Misso	129	312	159/5		Draw
1940	8th	SPC	Czerny Serpanchy	Archibald Weerasinghe	167	83	184	160	SJC
1941	9th	SPC	Hugh Muller	Archibald Weerasinghe	168	148	138	62/2	Draw
1942			Fairlie Dalpathado	Eric Schokman	Not Played Due to War
1943			Fairlie Dalpathado	No Team	Not Played Due to War
1944	10th	Varsity	Malcolm de Costa	Anton Perera	288	115		118	SJC
1945	11th	SSC	Malcolm de Costa	Anton Perera	240	165	176/6 dec.	102	SJC
1946	12th	SSC	Neil Weerasinghe	Dion Walles	109	256	212	56/3	SPC
1947	13th	SSC	Neil Weerasinghe	Dion Walles	141	317	157		SPC
1948	14th	SSC	Joe de Mel	Michael Chanmugam	180	134	88	127	SJC
1949	15th	SSC	Tommy Rodrigo	Darrel Weinman	112	91	161/6	179	SJC
1950	16th	SSC	Billy Balthazar	M S M Ghouse	110	167	194/7	165	Draw
1951	17th	SSC	Joe Perera	Herbert I K Fernando	359	170		174/5	Draw
1952	18th	NCC	Ken Surpanchy	Herbert I K Fernando	382	96		70	SJC
1953	19th	Oval	Rienzy Perera	Harold Wittachchy	180	158	2/0	172	Draw
1954	20th	Oval	Chrisantha Fernando	Clive Inman	152	308		175/5	Draw
1955	21st	Oval	Mahinda de Silva	Clive Inman	117	224	150	46/2	SPC
1956	22nd	Oval	Keerthi Caldera	Ken Dackworth	123	163/5 dec.	91/5	47/8 dec.	SJC
1957	23rd	Oval	Keerthi Caldera	Jayantha Fernando	298	192		246	Draw
1958	24th	Oval	Carlyle Perera	Russell Duckworth	246/9 dec.	314/5 dec.	40/1	90/5	Draw
1959	25th	Oval	Claude Perera	Brian Seneviratne	157	161	111/7 dec.	41/4	Draw
1960	26th	Oval	Priya Perera	Premesiri Athukorala	227/9 dec.	249/7 dec.	161/3 dec.	30/2	Draw
1961	27th	SPC	Raja de Silva	Adiel Anghie	109	230/9 dec.	140/8		Draw
1962	28th	NCC	Hilary Mercilline	Richard Heyn	82	55	139/9	168/9 dec.	Draw
1963	29th	SPC	Brian Perumal	Tyronne Le Mercier	106	161	118/7	152/4 dec.	Draw
1964	30th	Oval	Berchman de Alwis	David Heyn	108	83	90/6	146/9 dec.	Draw
1965	31st	SPC	Christopher Moreira	Travice Fernando	130	201	164	94/4	SPC
1966	32nd	Oval	Allan de Costa	Darrel Wimalarathne	195/8 dec.	215	68/6	125/4 dec.	Draw
1967***	33rd	Oval	Anil Peiris	Tony Opatha	142	81	102	163/8	SPC
1968	34th	Oval	Lalith de S Wijayarathne	Rodney Patternott	100/4	119/9 dec.			Draw
1969	35th	Oval	Brian Obeyesekere	Denham Juriansz	201	187/7 dec.	146/5 dec.	104/5	Draw
1970	36th	Oval	Hector Perera Jnr.	Rory Inman	252/7 dec.	105	18/0	164	SJC
1971	37th	Oval	Manik de s Wijeyaratne* Wendell Kelaart**	Roy Dias	223	121	88/6	235/8 dec.	Draw
1972	38th	Oval	Rohan Fernando	Roy Dias	235/7 dec.	112		36	SJC
1973	39th	Oval	Gary Melder	Gamini Goonasena	100	200/6 dec.	161	63/4	SPC
1974	40th	Oval	Gary Melder	Ruwan Jayaweera	271/7	169	23/1	151	Draw
1975	41st	Oval	Dushan Soza	Bernard Wijetunga Jnr.	228/8 dec.	128		205/7	Draw
1976	42nd	Oval	Dushan Soza	Ranjan Perera	108	151	164/8 dec.	122/7	Draw
1977	43rd	Oval	Trevor Croner	Charinde Perera	198/7 dec.	179/6 dec.	110/8		Draw
1978	44th	Oval	Shamilal de S Wijeyaratne	Suraj Abeysekara	217/9 dec.	161	127/6 dec.	187/4	SPC
1979	45th	Oval	Lakshman Aloysius	Kitto Fernandopulle	288/6 dec.	207/8 dec.		209/2	Draw
1980	46th	Oval	Rohan Wijesinghe Jnr.	Rohan Buultjens	213/5 dec.	267/6 dec.	133/4	156/6 dec.	Draw
1981	47th	Oval	Nirmala Perera	Michael Elias	297/5 dec.	160		138/6 dec.	Draw
1982	48th	Oval	Ashley de Silva	Niranjan Rodrigo	181/6 dec.	153/9 dec.	53/2	180/7 dec.	Draw
1983	49th	Oval	Hiran Cabraal	Shane Brohier* Rumesh Ratnayake**	113	203/6 dec.	185/5	112/6 dec.	Draw
1984	50th	Oval	Jeevaka Chandappa	Senerath Seneviratne	1063 dec.	185/8 dec.	13/0	67/7 dec.	Draw
1985	51st	Oval	Jonathan Alles	Heshan de Silva	179/6 dec.	199/7 dec.		129/6 dec.	Draw
1986	52nd	Oval	Rohitha Tillakeratne	Ranmore Martinesz	190/7 dec.	133/6 dec.	153/5 dec.	181/7	Draw
1987	53rd	Khettarama	Rohan Weerakkody	Dilhan Perera	190/4 dec.	148/8 dec.		141	Draw
1988	54th	Khettarama	Asoka Jayamanne	Dilhan Perera	261/6 dec.	179/7 dec.	107/8 dec.	44/5	Draw
1989	55th	Khettarama	Prasann Leanage	Roshan Anthony	211/7 dec.	188/5 dec.	159/9 dec.	47/3	Draw
1990	56th	Khettarama	Oril de Mel	Indunil Anthony	154	158/7 dec.	90	64/6	Draw
1991	57th	Khettarama	Viran Perera	Hemal Wimalasekera	227/8 dec.	143/8 dec.	79/9 dec.	95/4	Draw
1992	58th	Khettarama	Sudantha Fernando	Asanga Perera	136/7 dec.	159/6 dec.	98/4	137/7 dec.	Draw
1993	59th	Khettarama	Praveen Fernando	Russell Arnold	220/4 dec.	147/5 dec.	105/4 dec.	127/5	Draw
1994	60th	Khettarama	Peter Hamer	Faizal Mohammed	157/6 dec.	181/6 dec.	92/4	159/4 dec.	Draw
1995	61st	Oval	Asela Pathirana	Damien Perera	172	104/9 dec.	139/4 dec.	87/2	Draw
1996	62nd	Oval	Shalinka de Silva	Manura Neomal	168/9 dec.	182/7 dec.	78/5	131/9 dec.	Draw
1997	63rd	Oval	Trevin Mathews	Ramendra Nonis	198	199	106/8	122	Draw
1998	64th	Oval	Monto Perera	Malinda Warnapura	303/8 dec.	273/6 dec.	151/6 dec.	62/4	Draw
1999	65th	Oval	Roshan de Silva	Dilshan Rupasinghe* Jerome Fernando**	252/5 dec.	130	25/1	228/9 dec.	Draw
2000****	66th	Oval	Ian Daniels	Chrisantha Peiris	128/4	248			Draw
2001	67th	Oval	Anuk de S Wijeyaratne* Danuk Pathirana**	Malin Silva* Mahesh Perera	235/8 dec.	287/5 dec.	2038 dec.	80/1	Draw
2002	68th	Oval	Tivanka de S Wijeyaratne	Jehan Jayasuriya	139	200	221/9	162	Draw
2003	69th	Oval	Deshan Bastianpillai	Nadhula de S Wijeyaratne	178	255/7 dec.	162/4	176/4 dec.	Draw
2004	70th	Oval	Ranesh Perera	Dinesh Panditharantne* Gihan de Silva**	224/8	199	158/7	200	Draw
2005	71st	Oval	Hashan Gunatilleke	Prajeev Jansz	126	220	303/7 dec.	129/1	Draw
2006	72nd	Oval	Angelo Mathews	Hans Fernando	218	201/6 dec.	147	86/6	Draw
2007	73rd	Oval	Rajeewa Weerasinghe	Lahiru Peiris	335/5 dec.	193		279/3	Draw
2008	74th	Oval	Ruwantha Fernandopulle	Anuk Silva	255	137		76	SJC
2009	75th	Oval	S.M Weerasinghe	Angelo Perera	188/5 (49 overs)	235 (55.5 overs)	113/5 (32.4 overs)	215/9 (55.4 overs)	Draw
2010	76th	Oval	Dinal Dhambarage	Chathura Peiris	158 (50.1 overs)	293 (56.3 overs)	164 (48.5 overs)	33/0 (8.5 overs)	SPC
2011	77th	Oval	Rosco Thatil	Denham Perera	293 (56.3 overs)	189 (45 overs)		260/1 (54.1 overs)	Draw
2012	78th	Oval	Vidusha Jayasinghe	Shehan Fernando	141 (42.2 overs)	192 (52.4 overs)	165 (62.4 overs)	117/4 (24.2 overs)	SPC
2013	79th	Oval	Sachien Hewawasam	Dushan Hemantha	281/8 dec. (60 overs)	238/9 dec. (60 overs)	140/5 (24 overs)	253/7 dec.	Draw
2014	80th	Oval	Dylan Fernandopulle	Kavinda De Tissera	251/8 dec. (53 overs)	282 (59.5 overs)		181/9 dec. (68.2 overs)	Draw
2015	81st	Oval	Pathum Madusanka	Chandula Jayamanna	167 (59.5 overs)	268 (56.4 overs)	293/8 dec. (81.2 overs)	110/7 (26 overs)	Draw
2016	82nd	Oval	Sandaruwan Rodrigo	Vinu Mohotty	106 (32.3 overs)	304/9 dec. (60 overs)	263 (107.5 overs)	59/4 (9.2 overs/ Target 66 in 12 overs)	SPC[5]
2017	83rd	Oval	Harin Cooray	Lakshina Rodrigo	205 (57.2 overs)	188/8 dec.(60 overs)	163/8 dec.(77 overs)	99/0 (15 overs)	Draw
2018	84th	Oval	Jehan Daniel	Santhush Gunathilake	195 (53.2 overs)	244 (60 overs)	237/8 dec.(83 overs)	57/1 (9.2 overs)	Draw[6]
2019	85th	Oval	Ashen Daniel	Ranmith Jayasena	286/8 dec. (60 overs)	219 (60 overs)		317/6 dec. (79 overs)	Draw[7]
2020	86th	Oval	Johanne De Zilva	Shannon Fernando	259 (51.3 overs)	224 (60 overs)		288/8 dec. (87.4 overs)	Draw[8]
1933–2020									SJC 12 - SPC 10 (64 Draws)[9]

Limited Over history

Year	Encounter	Venue	Captains		Scores		Result
			SJC	SPC	SJC	SPC
1975	1st	SJC	Dushan Soza	Bernard Wijetunga	118 (40.3 overs)	120/5 (42.5 overs)	SPC
1976	2nd	SPC	Dushan Soza	Ranjan Perera	151 (47.2 overs)	126 (50 overs)	SJC
1977	3rd	SJC	Trevor Croner	Charinda Perera	193/8 (50 overs)	120 (41.3 overs)	SJC
1978	4th	Oval	Shamilal de S Wijeyaratne	Suraj Abeysekara	149 (43.2 overs)	150/8 (45.5 overs)	SPC
1979	5th	Oval	Lakshman Aloysius	Kitto Fernandopulle	192/9 (50 overs)	158 (44 overs)	SJC
1980	6th	Oval	Rohan Wijesinghe	Rohan Buultjens	198 (48.3 overs)	71/6 (21 overs)	SJC
1981	7th	Oval	Nirmalal Perera	Michael Elias	125 (39.5 overs)	158 (48.2 overs)	SPC
1982	8th	Oval	Ashley de Silva	Niranjan Rodrigo	216/8 (50 overs)	130 (36.5 overs)	SJC
1983	9th	Oval	Hiran Cabraal	Shane Brohier	203/8 (50 overs)	125 (35.3 overs)	SJC
1984	10th	Oval	Jeevaka Chandappa	Senerath Seneviratne	147/6 (41.5 overs)	146 (41.4 overs)	SJC
1985	11th	Oval	Johathan Alles	Heshan de Silva	84/8 (41 overs)	83 (32 overs)	SJC
1986	12th	CCC	Rohitha Thilakaratne	Ranmore Martinesz	161 (47.5 overs)	163/5 (43.3 overs)	SPC
1987	13th	Khettarama	Rohan Weerakkody	Dilhan Perera	177/6 (45 overs)	103 (38 overs)	SJC
1988	14th	Oval	Asoka Jayamanne	Dilhan Perera	181 (47.4 overs)	127 (47.4 overs)	SJC
1989	15th	Oval	Prasann Leanage	Roshan Anthony	138/8 (47 overs)	135 (48.3 overs)	SJC
1990	16th	Oval	Orille de Mel	Indunil Anthony	155 (48 overs)	122 (41.2 overs)	SJC
1991	17th	SSC	Viran Perera	Hemal Wimalasekera	101 (39 overs)	157/9 (45 overs)	SPC
1992	18th	SSC	Sudantha Fernando	Asanaga Perera	175 (48 overs)	176/5 (45.2 overs)	SPC
1993	19th	SSC	Praveen Fernando	Russel Arnold	108 (40 overs)	111/5 (35.5 overs)	SPC
1994	20th	Oval	Peter Harmer	Fazal Mohammed	181 (49.4 overs)	214/8 (50 overs)	SPC
1995	21st	SSC	Asela Pathirana	Damian Perera	157 (48.4 overs)	158/2 (39.2 overs)	SPC
1996	22nd	Oval	Shalika de Mel	Manura Neomal	91/3 (18.3 overs)	90 (29.2 overs)	SJC
1997	23rd	Oval	Trevine Mathews	Ramendra Nonis	193/3 (39.4 overs)	191/9 (50 overs)	SJC
1998	24th	Oval	Monto Perera	Malinda Warnapura	249/9 (50 overs)	250/3 (44.1 overs)	SPC
1999	25th	Oval	Roshan de Silva	Jerome Fernando	271/6 (50 overs)	232 (47.3 overs)	SJC
2000	26th	Oval	Ian Daniel	Chrisantha Peiris	143 (47.3 overs)	208/9 (50 overs)	SPC
2001	27th	Oval	Anuk de S Wijeyaratne	Malin Silva	205/8 (50 overs)	205 (49.4 overs)	Tied
2002	28th	Oval	Joel Sabreen	Jehan Jayasuriya	122 (38.1 overs)	123/4 (28.5 overs)	SPC
2003	29th	Oval	Deshan Bastianpillai	Nadhula de S Wijeyarathne	217/7 (50 overs)	58 (23.2 overs)	SJC
2004	30th	R Premadasa Stadium	Ranesh Perera	Gihan de Silva	258/6 (50 overs)	233 (49.3 overs)	SJC
2005	31st	R Premadasa Stadium	Hashan Goonatilleke	Prajeev Jansz	185 (41 overs)	257 (48.1 overs)	SPC
2006	32nd	R Premadasa Stadium	Angelo Mathews	Hans Fernando	113 (33.4 overs)	153 (43.3 overs)	SPC
2007	33rd	R Premadasa Stadium	Rajeewa Weerasinghe	Lahiru Peiris	203/7 (45 overs)	201 (47.4 overs)	SJC
2008	34th	R Premadasa Stadium	Ruwantha Fernandopulle	Anuk Silva	24/1 (6 overs)	218/7 (50 overs)	No Decision
2009	35th	R Premadasa Stadium	Sameera Weerasinghe	Angelo Perera	215/9 (50 overs)	333/7 (50 overs)	SPC
2010	36th	Oval	Dinal Dambarage	Chathura Peiris	202 (46.4 overs)	203/5 (44.1 overs)	SPC
2011	37th	Oval	Rosco Thatil	Denham Perera	230/9 (50 overs)	157 (40 overs)	SJC
2012	38th	R Premadasa Stadium	Vidusha Jayasinghe	Shehan Fernando	142 (42 overs)	143/4	SPC
2013	39th	R Premadasa Stadium	Sachin Hewawasam	Dushan Hemantha	194 (50 overs)	163 (45.2 overs)	SJC
2014	40th	R Premadasa Stadium	Dylan Fernandopulle	Kavinda De Tissera	224/8 (50 overs)	133 (41.4 overs)	SJC
2015	41st	R Premadasa Stadium	Pathum Madusanka	Chandula Jayamanna	99 (23 overs/ Target 159 in 29 overs)	166/7 (38.4 overs)	SPC
2016	42nd	R Premadasa Stadium	Kevin Corteling	Vinu Mohotty	258/6 (50 overs)	259/2 (39.1 overs)	SPC
2017	43rd	SSC	Harin Cooray	Lakshina Rodrigo	258 (49.4 overs)	311/8 (50 overs)	SPC
2018	44th	SSC	Jehan Daniel	Santhush Gunathilake	259 (49.2 overs)	172 (38.4 overs)	SJC
2019	45th	SSC	Ashen Daniel	Ranmith Jayasena	250 (49.3 overs)	175/5 (41 overs /Target 185(D/L))	SJC
1975–2019							SJC 23 - SPC 20[10]

Notes

1. Shamil Amit, M. (6 March 2009). "Saints battle for the 75th time at the Oval". Sri Lankan Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
2. "Battle of the Saints Cricket Carnival – 2008". Sri Lankan Sunday Times. 10 August 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. "Petes look for repeat while Joes are out for revenge". St. Peter's College Old Boys Union.
5. Win was awarded to St. Peter's by Rev.fr.Travis Gabriel(Rector of SJC) due to unruly behavior of spectators.
6. "Jayakody, Wellalage rescue Joes; Petes takes major honours". 3 March 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
7. "85th Battle of the Saints". Retrieved 2 March 2019.
8. "86th Battle of the Saints". Retrieved 7 March 2020.
9. "joe-pete stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 November 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
10. "joe-pete 50 over stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2012.

External links

• St. Joseph's College Official Website
• St. Peter's College Official Website