Sachith could tilt the scales in Trinity’s favour

S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen Kandy Sports corr.

A mega performance by allrounder Sachith Pathirana could tilt the scales in favour of Trinity College when they take on St. Anthony’s College in their 92nd Kandy’s ‘Battle of the Blues’ which will be played at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy this Friday and Saturday (March 7th and 8th). Play commences each day at 9.45 a.m.

Trinity College: Seated (from left) Rushan Jaleel, Romesh Perera, Wasika Munasinghe, Dilan Gangoda, (captain), Sachith Pathirana, Arinda Bulunawewa, Rajitha Bandara, Mr. Darrel Wimalaratne (Coach). Standing (from left) Trevine Ratnayake, Akila Jayasundera, Dushan Ranasinghe, Thejitha Polgolle, Mohammed Shehan, Hasitha Illangaratne, Kevinda Jayasuriya, Kheliya Atugoda, Suresh Wickrema, Mohammed Sajjid, Kithmal Wimalaweera.

St. Anthony’s College seated (from left): Eranga Hewapathirana, Gimhan Dissanayake, (Captain), Sahan Pallihakkara (vice captain), Jerome Siegertsz. Standing: (from left) Aravinda Premaratne, Jeewa Liyanage, Dulash Kumaratunga, Lakshan Hettiarachchi, Heshan Ranasinghe, Kasun Ekanayake, Milinda Ranasinghe, Tharanga Bandara, Fabian Leonard, Ayesh Galagoda, Manoj Sarathchandra. Pictures by S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports correspondent

Trinity’s fixture card for the season states that this match will be played at Katugastota on March 12th and 13th but this is incorrect as both the Asgiriya ground authorities and St. Anthony’s College confirmed that this match will be played at the Asgiriya Stadium this Friday and Saturday.

Past records reveal that 91 matches have been played in the series and the Trinitians are ahead with 22 wins against 12 by the Antonians while 57 matches have ended in draws. In fact the last time a decision was produced in this battle was way back in 1992 when Umesh de Alwis led the Antonians to victory.

The last Trinity win was in 1986 when Thushara Weerasuriya’s team broke a 35 year old ‘hoodoo’. Earlier the last Trinity win was in 1951 under Eustace Rulach who later became the Sports Editor of our sister paper Observer before migrating to Australia.

Both schools have produced some top cricketers and the most prominent among them is World best off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan who is the highest wicket taker in the history of test cricket and he has over 720 test wickets to his credit and this record will take a very long time to be beaten if at all that happens.

Trinity’s reply to this Kumar Sangakkara who is heading the world ranking as the best batsman in the world. He is also one of the best batsmen in the world. A very proud achievement for a small town like Kandy and a small island like Sri Lanka.

Trinity will be led by fourth year player Dilan Gangoda an attractive right hand who has scored over 500 runs including a ton against Sri Rahula College. He has also 38 victims as the stumper of the side.

Fifth year player Arinda Bulunawewa is the vice captain of Trinity and missed most the matches due to an injury. A good left arm spinner who could also bowl medium pacers.

Trinity has played 13 matches, won 1 (Sri Rahula College) and lost 2 (St. Peter’s and St. Thomas’) and drew the rest.

But one cricketer who could clip the wings of the Antonian eagles enormously talented Sri Lanka under 19 captain of last year allrounder Sachith Pathirana.

A very aggressive left handed batsman who could blunt any school’s attack and an fine left arm spinner and easily the best allrounder to come out of the portals of Trinity College. At school level he has done things which no other Trinitian had performed in the cricket field.

A double century, hat-trick, hundred wickets in a season, scoring 767 runs in a season and during his school career he has captured nearly 300 wickets and over 2,000 runs.

These figures would have been much better if not for junior national which has made him miss over 30 matches. This season he has played just four matches. Having the mythical ‘Colossus’ in the side, the Trinitians could look forward to victory.

The Antonians will be only happy to restrict him in both bowling batting, if they could. But the chances are slim unless the weather restricts play and the Asgiriya playing surface has been not adequately covered during the past three weeks resulting in reduced playing hours.

Others who should help to bloster the batting will be Wasika Munasinghe 550 runs, Rushan Jaleel 450 runs, Rajith Bandara 300 runs, Kithmal Wimalaweera 400 runs, Mohammed Sajjid 250 runs, Suresh Wickrema, Romesh Perera and Hasitha Illangaratne, Rushan Jaleel appears to be satisfied with 30 plus runs he has scoring in almost every innings and he must endeavour to convert them into bigger innings. Kithmal Wimalaweera too has been batting stubbornly and he must also play a longer innings.

The bowling attack will be spearheaded by one of the fastest bowlers in schools today Hasitha Illangaratne (25 wkts) and he will be partnered by Rajitha Bandara with Arinda Bulunawewa for extra pace.

But Trinity’s striking force will be their spinners headed by left arm spinner Sachith Pathirana with support from Rushan Jaleel (25 wkts), Romesh Perera (25 wkts), Suresh Wickrema, Akila Jayasundera, Arinda Bulunawewa and Chamath Umadantha who has been impressive in the last few matches.

The team is coached by the experienced Darrel Wimalaratne who is an Australian qualified coach, having coached SSC and the Tamil Union after an illustrious club cricket career.

In his first year of assignment, he has done a tremendous job in moulding the side into a fighting outfit. But in one year you cannot produce results in a game like cricket which can be done only over a period of time. Darrel Wimalaratne also played rugby for Sri Lanka.

St. Anthony’s College will be led by fifth year player and coloursman Gimhan Dissanayake who has scored over 550 runs including a fighting 104 off the strong Sylvestrian attack. His last year’s performance was better scoring 757 runs.

The deputy skipper of the side is another fifth year player allrounder Sahan Pallihakkara who has scored 350 runs and his left arm spinners has brought him a haul of 35 wickets. But he is capable of better things.

The Antonians have performed below their potential this season and one could only hope they will come good on this big occasion. They have been winless, having played 11 matches, won 0, lost 2 (Thurstan and St. Joseph’s) and drawn the rest. Apart from the skipper and his deputy, their batting will revolve around Hiran Wickremasekera, Jerome Siegertsz, Adil Reyal, Kasun Ekanayake, Eranda Hewapathirana, Manoj Sarathchandra and Fabian Leonard.

The pace attack will be in the hands of Heshan Ranasinghe and Tharanga Bandara with support from Fabian Leonard. Sahan Pallihakkara is their main spinner and the others who will be handling the slow stuff will be Eranda Hewapathirana, Hiran Wickremasekera, Adil Reyal, Kasun Ekanayake. Jerome Siegertsz is the stumper of the side.

The Antonians are coached by Champika Siriwardena, who had to handle a very young side which saw at least three regulars dropping out from the side.

Trinity College: (from) Dilan Gangoda (captain), Arinda Bulunawewa (vice captain), Sachith Pathirana, Wasika Munasinghe, Romesh Perera, Suresh Wickrema, Rushan Jaleel, Rajitha Bandara, Hasitha Illangaratne, Kithmal Wimalaweera, Mohammed Sajjid, Chamath Umadantha, Mohammed Shehan, Akila Jayasundera, Dushan Ranasinghe, Kheliya Atugoda, Kavinda Jayasinghe, (coach Darrel Wimalaratne, MIC Gamini Dissanayake).

St. Anthony’s College: (from) Gimhan Dissanayake (captain), Sahan Pallihakkara (vice captain), Adil Reyal, Jerome Siegertsz, Hiran Wickremasekera, Eranda Hewapathirana, Kasun Ekanayake, Heshan Ranasinghe, Tharanga Bandara, Fabian Leonard, Manoj Sarathchandra, Dulash Kumarasinghe, Ayesh Galagoda, Milinda Ranasinghe, Jeewa Liyanage, Lakshan Hettiarachchi. (Coach Champika Siriwardena, Sports Coordinator - Chandra Mahawattege).