Trinity has much to showcase over Antonians

Trinity College squad comprising Dimantha Mahavithana (captain), Adham Hilmy, Chaniru Senaratne, Pulisha Thilakarathne, Sethmika Seneviratne, Dinal Fernando, Malika Vithanage, Kanilka Anthony, Mahendra Abeysinghe, Ranul Gunarathne, Viduneth Dammage, Praveen Rukunayake, Ashvin Herath, Gopalraj Santhosh, Nethil Senanayake and Dawood Hilmy

 St Anthony’s College squad comprising Kaushika Kumarasinghe (captain), Dasun Weliyanga, Sadew Amarakoon, Dinul Wijesinghe, Sanuka Kalpana, Sisal Attanayake, Rayan Gregory, Sanithu Gunathilaka, Praveen Gamage, Kavindu Nawanjana, Kaveesha Samarathunga, Sanjana Sacheendra, Imeth Rajapakse, Chamalka Gunathilaka, Yenula Hewavitharana, Okitha Fernando, Hasanda Sethunga and Hansana Gamagedara

By Shamseer Jaleel in Kandy

The 107th edition of Kandy’s prestigious schools cricket encounter between Trinity College and St. Anthony’s College will take centre stage from March 12 to 14 at the Asgiriya Stadium bringing together two proud cricketing institutions in a contest rich in history and rivalry.

Trinity currently hold the edge in the series with 23 wins while the Antonians have recorded 11 victories with 72 matches ending in draws, reflecting the closely fought nature of this historic encounter.

Trinity’s last triumph was in 2012 under the captaincy of Niroshan Dickwella while the lads from Katugastota had their last victory in 1992 when Umesh de Alwis led St. Anthony’s to a memorable win.

Trinity is led by Dimantha Mahavithana and they enjoyed a competitive schools cricket season.

They recorded three outright victories and six first innings wins and faced two first innings defeats with four drawn matches, reflecting a steady and determined run throughout the season.

The outright wins were against St. Servatius’ College Matara, Lumbini College and St. Peter’s College.

Trinity’s leading run scorer is Mahendra Abeysinghe with 459 runs with three half-centuries while another top performer is Chaniru Senaratne who scored 431 runs including two centuries.

Another consistent contributor was Puleesha Thilakarathne with 396 runs with four half-centuries while middle order player, Dinal Fernando made 362 runs.

In the bowling department, Trinity’s spearhead was Kanilka Anthony who claimed 63 wickets to emerge as the most successful bowler.
One of the standout all-round efforts came from Chaniru Senaratne who amassed 431 runs and captured 41 wickets while Dinal Fernando supported well with 362 runs and 17 wickets.

Skipper Mahavithana, Adham Hilmy, Sethmika Seneviratne and Pulisha Thilakarathne all represented the Sri Lanka youth team and missed a major part of the season representing the side at the Asia Cup and World Cup.

Trinity is coached by Navin Ekanayake assisted by Thisaru Dilshan.

St. Anthony’s enjoyed a productive and encouraging season. They played 11 matches and secured six first-innings victories.

Skipper Kaushika Kumarasinghe amassed 533 runs in 17 innings highlighted by a superb knock of 168 to go with four half-centuries.

Sisal Attanayake also enjoyed a consistent run throughout the season with 471 runs in 19 innings, including a splendid 150 and two half-centuries.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinul Wijesinghe scored 406 runs which included a century and three half-centuries. Behind the stumps, he added further value with seven catches and a stumping.  

With the ball, left-arm spinner Ryan Gregory emerged as the most successful bowler for the Antonians with 32 wickets.

Sisal Attanayake, a leg spinner took just 11 wickets but scored more than 400 runs.

They are coached by Asela Perera with Niwantha Herath assisting him.