Sports
Rajive’s Big Match – A skipper’s recollections after 50 years
The 38th Battle of the Saint’s between St. Joseph’s College and St. Peter’s College was played on the 17 and 18 of March 1972 (50 years ago) at the Colombo Oval. I was the captain of the St. Joseph’s team whilst the great Roy Dias led the Peterite team. Both sides were evenly balanced although it was reported that St. Joseph’s had the edge as we had won more games during the season.
My team was naturally confident although the Big Match was always treated with respect as the Peterites were never to be underestimated. Our team had no stars as our affable coach Mr. Dalpathado would say except perhaps Gary Melder whilst the stylish Roy Dias was at his peak, and much was expected of him. The team was confident, yet big match jitters seemed to bother the boys.
The 17th of March dawned and St Joseph’s won the toss and put St. Peter’s into bat, and they were bowled out for 112 runs in their first innings. Rajive Benedict took two wickets, whilst Rohan de S. Wijeratne had the best figures of 4-34 and paceman Chandana Fonseka took three wickets. St Joseph’s got off to a good start but later slowed down to be 127 for one at close on day one. There were mixed feelings after the first day’s play including some criticism towards me for a slow innings.
One newspaper headline read “St Joseph’s well away but a decision unlikely.” Another headline said, “An early declaration is vital.” Whilst yet another said “Josephians in commanding position.” However, none of us dreamed of what was to take place on that historic second day.
St Joseph’s continued the innings from the first day and declared at 235 for seven wickets at the milk interval on day two. Gary Melder scored a quick fire 50 runs, whilst Rohan Martin made 36 and I scored 73 runs.
St. Peter’s went into bat soon after the milk interval, and what took place could only be described as a miracle. Rajive Benedict who once again opened the attack was simply unplayable and ripped through the Peterite batting, recording the remarkable figures of eight wickets for six runs and the Peterites were bowled out for a paltry 36 runs. This was the lowest ever total in the history of the Joe-Pete series. Roy Dias was fortunately out cheaply, caught behind by Rohan Martin off the bowling of Paceman Chandana Fonseka. How I thanked my lucky stars that Rajive and I were on the same side. The match was over before the tea break, much to the annoyance of some of the Josephian supporters who had to cut short their revelry.
Hence it is nostalgic to re-live that memorable victory exactly after 50 years.
The architect of that great victory was left arm paceman Rajive Benedict who not only had the remarkable figures of eight wickets for six runs in the Peterite second innings but ended up with a match bag of 10 for 24 in this match. I recall with affection my teammates, coach and Master in Charge of that memorable year. Mr. Dalpathado the coach was a father figure and a shrewd tactician ably supported by Mr. Angelo Rayer who was the Master in charge. He could read the game better than most coaches at that time. He is now 80 years young.
I also fondly recall three of my teammates who have moved on to heavenly shores, Gary Melder my vice-captain, off spinner Ranjan de Silva, our scorer Sunimal de S Wijeratne and our great coach Mr. Dalpathado. Many of my teammates are overseas, namely, Rajive Benedict, Keith Jansen and Cecil Sebastian are in Canada, whilst Sirimath Dep the all-rounder is in Australia and Chandana Fonseka is in Dubai. Rohan Martin my opening partner and wicket keeper, Ajith Johnpillai the hard hitter, all-rounder Rohan de S Wijeratne, middle order bat Turlough de S Wijeratne, opening bat and wicket keeper Tony Goonewardene, off spinner Lalith Jayasinghe and the brilliant fielder Nihal Wijewickrema are in Sri Lanka and so is our cheer leader Rohan Wijesooriya, who was an integral part of the team.
The Peterite team too had some fine players, in of course Roy Dias, Lalith Obeysekera, Bernard Wijetunge, Edgar Tavaryan, Mohan Abeysekera, to name a few. Many of them have remained close friends to this day. Our record stood for 36 years until St. Joseph’s had another Big Match victory in 2008. Leading this exceptional team, where team spirit was so high, was an honour and privilege and a high point in my life. I consider this a blessing from the Almighty God.
Rohan Fernando (Fido)
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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