Chamod shines with five-wicket haul as Joes dominate

89th Battle of the Saints

Deciding to field first St. Joseph’s reaped immediate success as paceman Gagan Chamod ripped through the top-order batting lineup to contain St. Peter’s to 214 runs on day one of the 89th Battle of the Saints Big Match at the SSC ground on Friday.

Chamod took the first two wickets of St. Peter’s innings in the first over before accounting for their Sri Lanka Under 19 player Vishen Halambage to leave them struggling at 29 for three wickets at one stage.

The Petes fourth wicket pair of Rusanda Gamage and Chamindu Perera then resisted putting on a partnership of 77 runs in 20 overs to partly repair the damage. Both scored half centuries but with others failing to back their efforts the Petes were dismissed for 214 runs before their allotted 60 overs in the first innings expired.

Chamod played the key role for the Joes using the morning conditions to good effect and completed a five wicket haul. Spinner Lahiru Amarasekara took three wickets.In their essay the Joes were 29 for no loss when bad light forced an early end to day’s play.