Unbeaten Trinity hold edge over Antonians
Trinity College led by National youth player, Ruvin Pieris and Antonians led by Mohamed Kamil will battle it out in the 103rd Battle of the Blues of the Hills at the Asgiriya International Stadium on March 13 and 14. Both teams hold formidable outfits with the ‘ Lions’ holding a slight edge with eight wins under their belt this season to remain unbeaten. The Antonians have seven wins this season but suffered two defeats.
Antonians
Antonians are led by Mohamed Kamil, a stylish player who scored more than 600 runs this season. His knock of 93 against Moratuwa Vidyalaya helped them to win the match. His team mates Asitha Wanninayake ( 418) and Anjala Bandara ( 392) too were among the runs. In bowling, lads from Antonians are specialist to create good spinners in their history. Nimnaka Jayathilke, the pocket rocket is the most deadliest in the school arena with lot of venom in his bowling. He took 82 wickets this season with 7 for 25 against Moratuwa Vidyalaya being his best figures. He is the main weapon of the Katugastota outfit. Gihan Ebert ( 57) and Sasith Hirudhika ( 42) too are among the wickets.
Antonians got seven wins against Dharmaraja, Kingswood, Moratuwa Vidyalaya, St Anne’s, Dharmashoka, Dharmapala and Maliyadeva. They lost against St Joseph’s, Colombo and Royal, Colombo. Antonians are in the quarter final stages in both the twoday and one- day encounter in the Singer Cup competition.
Trinitians
Meanwhile the Trinity ‘Lions’ are led by national youth player, Ruvin Pieris. A genuine and deadly fast bowler, he has taken 40 wickets this season with 6 for 7 against St. Servatius, Matara being his best. He is well supported by spinners Uvindu Wimaladharma ( 53) and Abishek Anandakumar ( 70). Another national youth player considered as the small Malinga is Matheesha Pathirana, was busy with the national outfit at the Under 19 Youth World Cup in South Africa. He ended with 11 wickets in the few matches he played.
In batting, allrounder Abishek Anandakumar leads them with 640 runs scoring a splendid 113 against St. Servatius, Matara. Other batsmen who did their part this season are Shane Goonathilake ( 540) and Ranuda Somaratne (525).
Trinity has got eight wins under their belt. They beat St. Servatius, Matara, Joseph Vaz, St Sebastians, Richmond, Zahira, Lumbini, Nalanda and Ananda. They won the SangaMahela Trophy for the second year in tandem against Nalanda. They are currently in the quarter-final stages in the Singer Cup two-day and one-day competition.
Trinity is very fortunate to have one of their old boys and crack batsman, Kavinda Jayasuriya who played from 2007 to 2011. He is a Level II qualified coach from Australia. Kavinda has within a short span of time turned Trinity cricket into a winning outfit. This is his fifth year with his alma mater. He took the Trinity outfit in 2015 under Raveen Sayer to be the Best Team All Island and then two years later in 2017 under Hasitha Boyagoda they became runner-up. They are well supported by Trinity College Cricket Foundation which was set up more than a decade ago under Kumar Sangakkara and has taken a positive turn in their cricket.
Last win in the series
The Antonians last won in 1992 when Umesh de Alwis led the outfit while the Trinity’s last win was in 2012 under Niroshan Dickwella.
Series
Trinitians lead the series with 23 wins to Antonians 12 with 67 ending in no decisions.
History
The Big Match series between the two leading Central Hill schools saw Jack Anderson of the Katugastota lads scoring a cracking 111 in 1918. In the following year, a Dharmalingam double hat trick ( 6 for 17 and 6 for 8) remains unforgettable in the series. T. B. Werapitiya of Trinity scored 100 in 1943 and followed with another ton ( 143) in 1944. In 1942 T B Werapitiya missed out on a ton by just 4 runs.
In 1984, Antonians scored a brisk 179 before lunch on day one with Marlon Von Haght scoring an unbeaten 122. Marlon who played for Sri Lanka A, later migrated to Australia. Thushara Weerasuriya’s 1986 outfit ended a 35-year drought under their head coach Shaw Wilson when they beat the Katugastota lads in a low scoring encounter hampered by rain. In the Centenary encounter, Mohamed Alfar led the Antonians while Trinity was led by national youth player Shanogeeth Shanmuganathan. Both schools have produced some outstanding cricketers at the national level with Muttiah Muralitharan ( SACK) and Kumar Sangakkara (TCK) leading the lot.
Prediction
Wicket is going to support the seamers early in the day but when game progresses, spinners could play a vital part. Nimnaka (SACK) and Trinitians (Abishek and Uvindu) could make the difference between the two sides. Trinity holds a slight edge in this encounter but a draw is on the cards as there is hardly any difference between the two sides.