Forging ahead in its mission to power sports at the school level, Sri Lanka’s National Mobile Service Provider, Mobitel, has stepped forward as the Principal Sponsor of the famous ‘2019 Battle of the North 113th Cricket Encounter’, organized by Jaffna Central College and St. John's College Jaffna. Facilitated by Mobitel, the ‘Big Match’ between the two Jaffna schools will be held on 7, 8 and 9th of March 2019, while the Limited Over match will be held on 16th March 2019. The ‘Big Match’ event has become a magnet for sports enthusiasts, students, teachers and parents from Jaffna and surrounding areas, who flock to witness and cheer every single exciting moment of the sporting encounter. 

Jaffna Central is pinning its hopes on Captain S. Mathushan, a right-hand batsman, 5th year colours man and fast bowler, who opens bowling for his team. He is a dependable middle order Batsman and has scored centuries against Jaffna Hindu College. He also represents the Northern Province Under 19 Team – 2018 and National Under 19 team playing for the Asian Cup and Indian Tour 2018. Supporting Mathushan ably will be A. Jeyatharshan, the Vice-Captain and Mas .V. Viyaskanth who has also represented the Northern Province and Sri Lankan Under 19 team. Viyaskanth is a dependable middle order batsman and good spinner of the ball. The team is coached by S. Sureshmohan under the guidance of Principal, S. K. Elilventhan, Master-in-Charge, K. Nilaxshan and the Prefect of Games S.Sureshmohan. 

 
On the other hand, St. John's College, Jaffna, boasts of an all-rounder team headed by Captain Murfin Abinash under the guidance of Coach Pathmanathan Lavendra. The Principal of the college, Principal Rev N Jameson Gnanaponrajah, is heading the historic educational institution which has nurtured many cricketing greats. 

The inaugural ‘Battle of the North’ can be traced back to 1904. In some interesting sports trivia about the Big Match in the past, St. John’s has won 36 encounters as against 28 won by Jaffna Central College, while 39 encounters were drawn. The results for 7 matches in the long history of the tournament are unavailable while only one encounter was ever abandoned. Considering the enormous talent in the current teams of both schools, the stage is all set for some thrilling games of cricket at the 113th encounter of this legendary tournament. 

By supporting such events, Mobitel is empowering youth to access equal opportunities regardless of considerations of geography etc. Mobitel is empowering a generation of sporting talent in the country by sponsoring sporting encounters in all parts of the island,