The Battle of the Blues' - Southern (also known as the Battle of Ruhuna or the Battle of Nilwala) is the annual school cricket encounter played between St. Servatius' College, Matara. As it is played since 1900, this is the second oldest cricket encounter in the island (Is second only to the Royal-Thomian cricket encounter.) which has won the hearts of the common people not only in Matara but even the rural folks of the deep south. People from all parts of the southern province rush to witness this big match every year. The match has been played as a three day game since 2000, which was the century year of the series. Thomas' College have won 32 encounters, with their most recent victory in 2007 encounter under the captaincy of Tharaka Dushantha. Servatius owns 27 victories, while their last win been recorded in 1971 under the captaincy of Nimal Munaweera. There has been 50 games that have ended in draws.The most illustrious cricketer played in the series is Master-Blaster Sanath Jayasuriya, who captained the Sri Lankan cricket team from 1999 to 2003. He captained the St. Servatius team in 1988.
