Jaffna Central College beat St. John’s College by nine wickets in their 116th Battle of the North annual cricket encounter at the Jaffna Central College ground yesterday.
The Battle of the North is the oldest cricket match in the Jaffna peninsula.
St. John’s won the toss and elected to field first and Jaffna Central College scored 279 in 66.2 overs. Nishanthan Ajay scored 74 and Jegatheeswaren Vithusan hit 71 while Matheeswaran Sansayan (42) and Sutharshan Anushanth (27) helped to build their inning.
Yogathas Vithushan bowled best claiming four wickets for 70 runs.
St. John’s College in reply was bowled out for 127 with Nesakumar Jezial (43) and Kamalapalan Sabesan (34) among the runs as Ranjithkumar Newton claimed 4 for 27.
The Johnians were bowled out for 160 in the second essay as Ranjithkumar Newton claimed 5 for 53 giving him a match bag of nine wickets.
Vikneswaran Paruthi claimed 5 for 58 runs.
Jaffna Central College: 279 (Nishanthan Ajay 74, Jegatheeswaren Vithusan 71, Matheeswaran Sansayan 42, Sutharshan Anushanth 27, Yogathas Vithushan 4/70, Anton Abishek 3/67, Kirupananthan Kajakarnan 2/38) and 9 for 1.
St. John’s College: 127 (Nesakumar Jezial 43, Kamalapalan Sabesan 34, Ranjithkumar Newton 4/27, Ananthan Kajan 3/8, Sutharshan Anushanth 2/62) and 160 (Arulseelan Kavishan 37, Kamalapalan Janaththan 26, Nesakumar Jezial 25, Ranjithkumar Newton 5/53, Vikneswaran Paruthi 5/58)
Awards
Best batsman – Nishanthan Ajay (Jaffna Central)
Best bowler – V ikneswaran Paruthi (Jaffna Central)
Best wicket keeper – DP Paul (Jaffna Central)
Best Allrounder - S. Anusanth (Jaffna Central)
Best Fielder - M.Kinphushan (St.John’s College)
Man of the Match – Ranjithkumar Newton (Jaffna Central)
-(YK)