The season of brotherhood and cricket is back. Thurstan College and Isipathana College are ready to take the field for the 63rd edition of this historic rivalry.
Mark your calendars for the upcoming encounters:
8th March: 46th ODI Encounter at P. Sara Oval 22nd March: T20 Encounter at Thurstan Grounds 3rd, 4th & 5th April: 63rd Big Match at SSC Grounds
Join us as we celebrate the spirit of sportsmanship and the long-standing tradition between our two schools.
45th One-Day Encounter – Thurstan vs IsipathanaVihas Thewmika who starred with brilliant all-round performance for Thurstan College in their 45th Limited Overs Encounter against Isipathana College, has been picked as the GOLD Sri Lanka Game Changer of the match.
Thurstan College outplayed Isipathana College to win the 45th One-Day encounter played for the W.A. De Silva Memorial Trophy today(9th March) at the P. Sara International Cricket Stadium.
Thurstan College skipper Thanuga Palihawadana won the toss and elected to bat first which is out of fashion for most of the schoolboy teams nowadays. Thurstan openers Tanuja Rajapaksha and Dinal Induwara picked up right where they left off at the SSC a few weeks ago in the three-day encounter, resuming their dominance at the crease.
Both openers put on a superb 134-run partnership, maintaining a run rate of just over six runs per over. Rajapaksha, unfortunately, fell for a well-compiled 67, an innings of high class. The Thurstan middle order played around Dinal Induwara, who went on to score a superb century—one he narrowly missed in last year’s one-day encounter.
Former captain and Sri Lanka youth cap Vihas Thewmika added the cherry on top to the Thurstan innings by scring 45 ball 52 taking the Thurstan score over 300.
In reply, Isipathana College batters couldn’t do much as they crumbled like a house of cards. Right from the outset, Thurstan’s bowlers were on target, giving nothing away for the Isipathana batters to capitalize on. The only notable performance with the bat came from Dilpa Ruwanka, who fought hard for his 40.
Yovun Silpa was the pick of the bowlers for Thurstan, causing all the carnage in the middle by grabbing four wickets up front. Vihas Thewmika was once again superb with the ball, claiming three crucial wickets.
This season will go down in Thurstan’s history books, as they emerged as the U19 Division Tier ‘B’ champions while also securing the Blackham Wijewardene Trophy and the W.A. De Silva Trophy—all in the same year
Thurstan College beat Isipathana College by 10 wickets in the 62nd ‘Battle of the Brothers’ annual school cricket encounter at the SSC grounds on Sunday.
Batting first, Isipathana College scored 203 runs in their first innings while Thurstan College declared their first innings at 257/9.
However, in their second innings, Isipathana College could only manage 104 runs.
As a result, Thurstan College had a target of 50 runs to win, which they successfully chased down without losing a wicket.
Man of the match – Sethru Fernando (Thurstan) Best batter – Janitha Rukshan (Thurstan) Best fielder – Maleesha Sandaruwan (Isipathana) Best bowler – Rachintha de Silva (Thurstan) Best striker – Dinal Induwara (Thurstan) Best all rounder – Vihas Thewmika (Thurstan)
The 62nd Battle of the Brothers is here! Three days of intense cricket action—February 21st, 22nd, and 23rd at the SSC Ground. The rivalry continues, the battle ignites!
Thurstan College cricket team with officials: (Seated from left): Bawantha Jayasinghe, Lesley Harischandra (Master In Charge), Jayavihan Mahavithana (Captain), Luxman Dias (Acting Principal), Binara Ranathunga (Vice Captain), Thamara Abeyratne (Coach), Yo
Thurstan College who came out victorious last year after 27-years under the leadership of Sandaru Dias will be seeking for a repeat of that performance when they clash with traditional rivals Isipathana College in the 57th ‘Battle of the Brothers’ cricket encounter scheduled to take place on February 28 and 29 at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) grounds with play commencing from 9.30 am each day.
Thurstan leads the series with six wins against Isipathana’s four. This encounter will commence the start of a series of Big Matches that will follow in the weekends to come.
Thurstan will be skippered by third year coloursman Jayavihan Mahavithana who made a century on debut. He will strengthen the batting department having scored 613 runs inclusive of three half centuries.
Thurstan gained three outright wins out of 13 matches played this season against Maris Stella, Lumbini and St. Thomas’ Matara. They also won six occasions on first innings and lost four on first innings.
Third year Yohan Liyanage has scored 503 runs inclusive of two half tons and bagged 46 wickets. He will play a major role as an all-rounder while centurion of previous year’s encounter Avishka Kaushalya will be backing him with 350 runs and 11 wickets.
Right-handed batsman Ranesh Silva who has passed the 400-run mark and will be given fullest support to his team as wicket keeper. Another versatile player Bawantha Jayasinghe piled up 332 runs and captured 12 wickets while right handed Dananja Silva has scored 243 runs inclusive of one half century and bagged 20 wickets.
Seasoned campaigner and centurion Sanath Nandinu (245), Theneth Prabuddha (237), Vihanga Jayanama (206) and Prasanna Pushpakumara (190) will also contribute to uplift the scoreboard.
The Thurstan bowling will rely on spinners spearheaded by leg spinner Punthila Pushpakumara who has claimed 64 wickets. He has obtained 10 wickets in a match on two occasions and has six five-wicket hauls. Spinners Vihash Thewmika, Bimara Ranathunge, Navindu Fernando, Hirudith Hemachandra, Prasanna Pushpakumara, Dananja Silva, Yohan Liyanage and pacies Bavantha Jayasinghe and Avishka Kaushalya will support him to keep the opponents to a lower total.
Thurstan College Head Coach Thamara Abeyratne said, “I have coached the team since 2018 and I happy to say we gained a victory in 2019. We have a well balanced side and our three under 15 players will play in this encounter. I think they will give their fullest contribution to the team. We expect to give a good challenge to the opponents and looking for a repeat of last year’s victory.” Leslie Harischandra is the master-in-charge of the Thurstan team.
The big match fever for 2019 will usher with traditional rivals Thurstan and Isipathana colleges clashing for the Blackham Wijewardene Memorial Trophy in their two day 56th “Battle of The Brothers” encounter due to be played on February 22 and 23 at the SSC ground.
Thurstan leads the series with five wins as against four to Isipathana with the rest ending in draws. No outright result has been recorded by either side since 1999 which was won by the Isipathana when the side was led by Krishantha Jayawardena.
For Thurstan an outright win is badly in need with their last win being in 1992 under Mackenzie Perera and no doubt they will put in all effort to break the 26-year winless hoodoo.
Third year coloursman Sandaru Dias will lead Thurstan who have played 14 matches this season securing five outright wins against St. Anthony’s Wattala, Dharmapala Vidyalaya Pannipitiya, St. Mary’s Kegalle, St. Anne’s Kurunegala and St. Thomas’ Matara.
He has also claimed 60 wickets and has the backing of his vice-captain Ayesh Harshana who is the leading wicket-taker of the team with 75 wickets and will lead the bowling attack.
Thurstan’s batting will revolve around Bavath Jayasinghe who has scored over 450 runs inclusive of two centuries against St. Mary’s and St. Anthony’s and last year’s Big Match centurion Jayavihan Mahavithana (400 runs), Yohan Liyanage (350) and Ranesh Silva (350).
Thurstan has a well-balanced side with talented batsmen and bowlers and one can expect them to put up a performance that will be worthy of a win. Looking back at the performances of the two teams this season unbeaten Thurstan has the edge, but this being a match that is something special it could be anybody’s game due to the fact that the underdogs have done better in a match of this nature.
But the need of the hour is to break the hoodoo and the two teams know that a win is needed for which positive cricket should be played if they are to achieve that.
Thurstan College Principal Lakshman Dias said, “I take this moment to wish both teams best of luck, play to your full potential and I hope we build more and more upon our brotherhood, whatever the result maybe. We have organized plenty of other events to experience the true spirit of Thurstan-Isipathana big match such as joint cycle parade, old boys match and teachers match.”
The school has produced quite a few national players such as Amitha de Costa, Niroshan Bandaratilleke, Hemantha Boteju and Lahiru Kumara.
Thurstan are coached by Thamara Abeyratne who took over as coach in September last year.
Thurstan College cricket team: (Seated from left) Naveen Gunawardene, Saman Hewavitharana (Coaching Advisor), Charana Nanayakkara, Kasun Abeyratne (Captain), E.M.S. Ekanayake (Principal), Nipun Lakshan (Vice Captain), Leslie Harischandra (Vice Principal),
The 54th Battle of the Brothers between Thurstan College and Isipathana College at the SSC grounds on February 24 and 25 will mark the beginning of the ‘Big’ match season for 2017.
In the current season Thurstan has recorded seven outright wins from 14 matches against Dharmapala, Bandaranayake MMV, De Mazenod, Prince of Wales, St. Joseph Vas Wennappuwa, Nalanda and Maliyadeva with the rest of the matches ending in draws.
In the history of their traditional contest with Isipthana, Thurstan leads the series with five wins their last success coming way back in 1992 under the captaincy of Mackenzie Perera. In their batting the Thurstanites will be captained by Kasun Abeyratne who scored 147 in last year’s big match.
Last year’s skipper Charana Nanayakkara who represented Sri Lanka under 19 team is the most prolific run-getter with 701 runs including a century and five half tons. He has also claimed 48 wickets with best figures of 8 for 15 against St. Joseph’s.
Another centurion Prageesha Mendis has contributed 322 runs to the team while right hand batsman and right arm off spinner Sawan Prabash has scored 560 runs including with three fifties and captured 15 wickets.
Another key player in the side is Nimesh Lakshan who has scored 485 runs with four fifties.
In the bowling line-up left-arm leg-spinner Naveen Gunawardana is the leading wicket-taker with 70 wickets that includes the unique feat of taking all ten wickets in an innings (10/36) against D.S. Senanayake College. He nearly repeated that performance against Maliyadeva College snapping up nine wickets.
Thurstan has a well balanced squad comprising talented batsmen and bowlers such as Kasun Abeyratne (captain), Nipun Lakshan (vice-captain), Imesh Viranga, Sandaru Dias, Navod Samarakoon, Sawan Prabash, Jayavihan Mahavitharana, Akila Ranatunga, Yeshan Wickramarachchi, Thisara Deshan, Prageesha Mendis, Nimesh Lakshan, Thusal Madusanka, Bimara Ranatunga, Pansilu Deshan, Ayesh Harshana, Naveen Gunawardana, Janushke Fernando and Pramesh Dilushana.
Suneth Gunathilake who has coached the team since 2010 said, “We expect to put out a strong side and hope to break the hoodoo of not winning a big match for the past 25 years. Our opponents also have a very good batting line up and I think the SSC pitch will help the batsmen.”
Gunathilaka is assisted by Saman Hewavitharana who has served as Technical Instructor for the past 25 years.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa tosses the coin at the 50th Thurstan vs Isipatana inter school cricket match at the SSC grounds yesterday. He is watched closely by the captains of the two schools, as well as Y. A. N. D. Yapa (Thurstan Principal), A. C. Perera (Isipathana Principal) and Priya Paranavitane, a livewire of the Thurstan OBu. President Rajapaksa is an old boy of Thurstan.
THURSTAN-ISIPATHANA 49 CRICKET ENCOUNTER PLAYED AT SSC GROUNDS ON FEBRUARY 24TH & 25TH
Thurstan skipper Sanjeewa Salgado winning the toss invited Isipathana to bat.
Thinking behind his decision was that the wicket was not covered by the SSC authorities and there was a tinge of grass which is normally not found in a SSC wicket, The Captain expected his 2 fast bowlers to exploit the conditions, but unfortunately they strayed in both line & length could not make use of the lift & movement which was available.
Isipathana opening pair batted cautiously and put on 72 runs by lunch off 36 overs. First over after lunch produced a wicket for Thurstan and in came the vice captain, the left handed Deshan Jayakumar who scored 73 in the last year?s big match. He settled in quickly and both he and left handed Sanka Thabrew batted in a technically correct manner and took the score to 145 for 1 wicket by tea, batting a total of 71 overs and 280 min. Slow going just over 2 runs and over & Thurstan maintained a healthy over rate.
After tea Isipthana accelerated their scoring rate, but it was still pedestrianly slow and when play was surprisingly stopped by the umpires at 5.15 PM with another 25 min for close of play Isipathana had scored 256 for 5 wickets in 99 overs and 380 min batting time with Jayakumar scoring a well deserved century to be unbeaten on 100.
In the post tea session Isipathana lost the wicket of Thabrew for a well deserved 85 runs his first 50 for the season. Thurstan was able to capture the wicket of Isipathana Skipper, the hard hitting Harith Wanigaarchchi for 1 run when the off-spinner Jaleel held on to powerful drive of his own bowling. Harith was the star batsman of the side scoring over 800 runs in the season with a century to his credit.
Surprisingly the under dogs Isipathana continued batting on the second day, the first time it had happened in this series of 49 matches that side continued to bat on the second day. Isipathana who were on 256 runs for the loss of 5 wickets managed to add on a further 51 runs to end their innings on 307/9 in 108.5 over?s which was one run short of their series highest score of 308 for 9 made in 2005
Isipathana deputy skipper Deshan Jayakumar resuming on his overnight score of 100 not out went on to score 126 runs while Pawan Anjana ended with 12 on day two. Jayakumar who put on a solid 2nd wicket stand of 109 with Sanka Thabrew during the first day ensured that he took his side to safe shores on day two adding 26 runs to pass the 450 run mark for the season. He seems to be a batsman for the big occasion. Minhaj Jaleel tormented once more with his off spinners but failed to capture a wicket. However right arm medium pacer Kavindu Silva added a solitary wicket to his overnight wicket tally to end on 2 for 46.
Favourties Thurstan College in their first innings mustered a formidable 331 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in quick time. It took them just 85.3 over?s to set up a good score and skipper Sajeewa Salgado muscled his way to another century 114 with 18 -4?s to take his tally of centuries to 5 for the season and his tally up to 1183 runs. Salgado starting his innings with his personal tally on 1069 runs went on a rampage to take the opposition bowling apart with some destructive batting which laid the foundation for the Thurstanites.
Opening batsman Minhaj Jaleel who had a good appearance with the ball gave a concrete start scoring 30 runs while adding 68 runs in 10 overs with the diminutive wicket keeper Sahan Hewavitharana 34 who was explosive with his drives and cuts over the cover fielders. Salgado had a stand of 138 with south paw Ramindu Kumarsinghe for the 4th wicket before retiring soon after his century with cramps and came back after the fall Kavindu Silva?s wicket. Kavindu Kulasekera scored 51 held the side together to take their team to a first innings win
When Ramindu fell at the score of 222, the 4th wicket stand was 144 which is record for Thurstan eclipsing the record of 114 held by Kamal Mahendra [ 146 * ] & Gamini Nanaykkara [ 60 ] in 1990, when Thurstan registered the first of the series triple triumphs in 1990 -92.
The Pathanians relied a lot on their experienced captain to take wickets on a flat batting track and Harith Wanigarachchi came good for his team finishing with figures of 4 for 84. The left arm leg spinner together with his bowling partner Sidath Mallawarachchi claimed the bulk of the wickets while medium pacer Charith Rajapakse ended with 2/59.
It was a stale draw once more at the 49th encounter with the last win of the series coming 12 years ago in 1999. Thurstan last won the big match in 1992 under the captaincy of Mackenzie Perera while Isipathana won in 1999 under the leadership of Krishantha Jayawardena.
The crowed come to see results and to see records being broken, It is up to Isipathana to take the Challenge offered by Thurstan to limit the First Innings to 60 overs per side, so that one side could work towards a decision.
There were many batting records broken
First time that both sides topped the 300 run mark
First time, a players from both side scored centuries
Thurstan scored the highest total of 331 for 9, their highest and also the series eclipsing Isipathana score of 308 for 9 declared made in 2005.
The most dubious records is Isipathana Continuing to bat for nearly one hour on the second day, which had never happened in the past 49 years !
Priya Paranavitane
Thurstan vs Isipathana
49h Cricket Encounter Played at SSC grounds
on February 24th & 25th, 2012
Isipathana 1st Innings
Sanka Thabrew
b Perera
85
Salinda Ushan Perera
Lbw
b Silva
26
Deshan Jayakumar [ V Capt ] ( 232 min, 1-6,11-4 ) run out
Thurstan skipper Thisura Madurappereuma called correctly when the Chief-Guest Rtd Brig Lalith Peris tossed the coin.
The Chief Guest who was instrumental in leading Thurstan for it’s first victory way back in 1965 was conducted by the Thurstan College Western Band in a colourful opening ceremony and the teams then posed for the traditional group photograph.
Isipathana batted for 83 overs in 310 min and scored 254 runs. Captain Dimuth Warapitiya scored stoked filled 96 runs with some crisp drives & cuts on the offside and was unfortunate to miss a well deserved century. He was ably supported by Deshan Jayakumar who scored 63 & was associated with a record breaking partnership for the 5th wicket of 124 runs eclipsing the Isipathana record which stood for 26 years. At one stage Isipathana were struggling at 59 for 4 wickets when Jayakumar was missed in the slips by the Thurstan skipper before he had scored. Warapitiya was also dropped when he was in the 60’s. Feature was that Thurstan off spinner Sachith Dias who came into the match with 92 wickets in the season could not take a wicket on the plumb SSC track. A similar fate befell Isipathana’s champion Left arm Spinner Anusha Samaratunga who came to the big match last year with a record 141 wickets could capture only 1 wicket in both Innings. Simliar fate befell Dias in this year’s match.
Thurstan ended the day with 52 for 1 wicket in the19 remaining overs. But they batted the whole of the morning session of 140 minutes and scored a miserly 58 runs for the loss of another 4 wickets in 28 overs and at lunch were 110 for 5.Soon after averting the follow on Thurstan declared 89 runs behind & threw the match open to Isipathana. But Thurstan batted far too long 300 minutes which was not helped by the slow over rate of Isipathana who bowled only 70 overs.
Remembering last year’s spirited effort by Thurstan snatch victory when they chased 189 runs & fell short by only 14 runs, Isipathana played safe and made a token declaration at 120 for 4 leaving Thurstan to get 209 runs in 13 overs!!
There has been 12 consecutive draws from 1999 and it is high time that the organizers restrict the 1st Innings to 60 overs so that there a chance for side to manufacture a victory as a declaration in the 2nd Innings with less than 2 hours only give the side chasing a chance of victory as it is highly unlikely that a side could take 10 wickets in that time on the plumb SSC track
