Surprise attacks are often considered effective means of weakening one’s opponents in warfare. And it seemed St. Peter’s College had taken a lesson from a battlefield expert before encountering their arch rivals, St. Joseph’s, in the 76th ‘Battle of the Saints’ as they stunned the Joes with a surprise package in Shehan Fernando, to end a long wait for a Peterite victory in the traditional encounter at the P. Sara Oval over the weekend.

Shehan, the surprise weapon the Petes unveiled in an Under-19 match against Ananda late this season, had not caught the eye of the Joes’ outgoing coach Harsha de Silva, who is known for his video analyzing of opposition players to come up with set plans for each and every batsmen.

Fernando’s magnificent innings of 83, inclusive of eight fours and five sixes (in 67 balls), provided the ideal start for the Petes to cruise to a big total. The confidence, the maturity and the brave pulls and cuts displayed by the big match debutant was too much for the bowling attack spearheaded by the experienced duo of Chathuranga Kumara and his skipper Dinal Dhambarage. The unexpected batting brilliance of a fresher seemed to have unsettled any plans if there were any, as the Joes struggled in the morning session on the first day.

The fresher’s power packed innings was such a treat to watch that it temporarily erased from the minds of the morning’s spectators that they were watching a team consisting of one third of a Sri Lanka Under-19 team.

Shehan’s knock dealt a severe demoralizing blow to the confidence of the Joes batting department who were anticipating a fierce attack from their counterparts.

If it were a battlefield and Shehan’s knock was the morning surprise for their opponents, then the barrage of the pace attack, spearheaded by Chathura Peiris and Lahiru Jayaratne could be compared to two multi barrel rocket launchers aimed at an innocent bunch of war refugees running for cover.

The Joes found it hard to negotiate the pace barrage. And they never looked to face them with confidence and positive manner, except for a few as they jolted under pressure. While a couple of batsmen were almost ridiculously bowled, after leaving the ball, some simply could not read them. Their mainstay batsman, Vidusha Jayasinghe receiving a nasty blow on his face off the bowling of Peiris at a crucial juncture and their highest scorer of the season (over 970 runs), Chathuranga Kumara being dislodged for a duck wilted the Joes further.

The Joes crumbling under pressure was no big surprise, as they had been fragile against good bowling attacks this season. Their first innings display was a realization of that cruel truth. They tried a few changes in the batting order in the second innings in a desperate bid to survive against Peiris and Jayaratne, who were out for the kill with more lethal intensity. Enrico Silva, Roscoe Thattil and Vidusha Jayasinghe provided some pockets of resistance, but Peiris proved that he, who could lead a Sri Lanka Under-19 to a World Cup semi final had more tricks under his sleeves to decide the destiny of a Big Match. For the last three decades, there had been many good captains leading St. Peter’s, but finally it took a team captained by a Sri Lanka Under-19 skipper to end the long wait for a Peterite victory.

It was a fitting farewell for the Pete’s trio of Peiris, Akshu Fernando and Andri Berenger, all World Cup players, as they were the only remaining players from the 2008 outfit that experienced a bitter innings defeat at the hands of their arch rivals that year. And for their new coach Kirthi Gunaratne, what a way to start.