Battle of the North (cricket match)


The Battle of the North is an annual cricket match played between Jaffna Central College and St. John's College, Jaffna, two schools in northern Sri Lanka. The first match took place in 1904. The match is also known as the Battle of the Blues and is played over three days.

History

The first Battle of the North took place in 1904. No matches were played in 1948, 1961, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1996 and 1997. The 1967 match was abandoned due to bad weather. The schools played two matches in 1904, 1908, 1909, 1918, 1919, 1921 and 1922. Central won the 1904 match but it wasn't until 1908 that St. John's won a match.

Notable players

Centralites
Johnians

Results

No.DatesVenueTossResultMarginRefs
1st1904Central win
2nd1904Central win
3rd1905
4th1906Central win
5th1907Draw
6th1908St. John's win
7th1908St. John's win
8th1909St. John's win
9th1909Central win
10th1910St. John's win
11th1911
12th1912
13th1913
14th1914
15th1915St. John's win
16th1916Draw
17th1917Central win
18th1917Central win
19th1918Draw
20th1918Central win
21st1919Draw
22nd1920Central win
23rd1921St. John's win
24th1921St. John's win
25th1922St. John's win
26th1922St. John's win
27th1923Central win
28th1924Draw
29th1925
30th1926St. John's win
31st1927
32nd1928St. John's win
33rd1929St. John's win
34th1930St. John's win
35th1931St. John's win
36th1932St. John's win
37th1933Central win
38th1934St. John's win
39th1935Central win
40th1936Central win
41st1937St. John's win
42nd1938St. John's win
43rd1939Central win
44th1940Central win
45th1941St. John's win
46th1942St. John's win
47th1943St. John's win
48th1944St. John's win
49th1945St. John's win
50th1946St. John's win
51st1947St. John's win
1948Not played
52nd1949Central win
53rd1950St. John's win5 wickets
54th1951Central win7 runs
55th1952St. John's win2 wickets
56th1953Central win
57th1954Central win3 wickets
58th1955Draw
59th1956Draw
60th1957Draw
61st1958St. John's winAn innings and 21 runs
62nd1959St. John's win8 wickets
63rd1960Central win73 runs
1961Not played
64th1962Draw
65th1963Draw
66th1964Draw
67th1965St. John's win8 wickets
68th1966Draw
69th1967Abandoned
70th1968St. John's winAn innings and 4 runs
71st1969Draw
72nd1970Central winAn innings and 4 runs
73rd1971Draw
74th1972Draw
75th1973Draw
76th1974Draw
77th1975Draw
78th1976Draw
79th1977Draw
80th1978Draw
81st1979Draw
82nd1980Draw
83rd1981Draw
84th1982Draw
85th1983Draw
86th1984Draw
1985Not played
1986Not played
1987Not played
1988Not played
1989Not played
87th1990St. John's winAn innings and 26 runs
1991Not played
88th1992Draw
89th1993Draw
90th1994Central win7 wickets
91st1995Draw
1996Not played
1997Not played
92nd1998Central groundDraw
93rd20 March 1999 – 21 March 1999Central groundDraw
94th2000Draw
95th2001Draw
96th2002Central win6 wickets
97th2003Draw
98th18 March 2004 – 20 March 2004Abandoned - St. John's win
99th17 March 2005 – 19 March 2005Central groundDraw
100th9 March 2006 – 11 March 2006Central groundDraw
101st15 March 2007 – 17 March 2007Central groundCentral win10 wickets
102nd24 April 2008 - 25 April 2008Central groundCentral winAn innings and 133 runs
103rd26 February 2009 – 28 February 2009Central groundSt. John won the toss and elected to fieldCentral win222 runs
104th25 February 2010 – 27 February 2010Central groundCentral win4 wickets
105th10 March 2011 – 11 March 2011Central groundCentral won the toss and elected to fieldCentral win2 wickets
106th8 March 2012 – 10 March 2012Central groundCentral won the toss and elected to batDraw
107th14 March 2013 – 16 March 2013Central groundCentral won the toss and elected to fieldDraw
108th13 March 2014 – 15 March 2014Central groundAbandoned - St. John's win
109th5 March 2015 – 7 March 2015Central groundSt. John's win84 runs
110th10 March 2016 – 12 March 2016Central groundCentral won the toss and elected to batDraw
111thCentral groundCentral won the toss and elected to batSt.John's winan innings and 7 runs-

Limited over match

The two schools have also played an annual 50 over match since 2003.
No.DatesVenueTossResultMarginRefs
1st18 March 2003Central groundSt. John's win52 runs
2nd25 March 2004Central groundSt. John's win57 runs
3rd2005Central groundSt. John's win3 wickets
4th2006Central groundSt. John winParabola system
5th2007Central groundCentral win6 wickets
6th2008Central groundCentral win1 wicket
7th2009Central groundCentral win88 runs
8th2010Central groundCentral won the toss and elected to batCentral win155 runs
9th19 March 2011St. John's groundSt. John's win5 wickets
10th17 March 2012St. John's groundCentral won the toss and elected to batCentral win62 runs
11th23 March 2013St. John's groundSt. John's won the toss and elected to fieldCentral win34 runs
12th5 April 2014St. John's groundSt. John's won the toss and elected to batSt. John's win139 runs
13th14 March 2015Central win
14th19 March 2016St. John's groundSt.John's won the toss and elected to fieldSt.John's win5 wickets