Two splendid half centuries from Arjuna Jayasinghe and Kaveen Hiniduma guided Trinity College Kandy to a strong position on the opening day of their inter school under 19 cricket tournament match against Ananda College which commenced at Ananda Mawatha today.
The Trinitians put into bat on a good batting surface exploited the conditions to the maximum as they piled up a formidable 267 runs in the first innings from 73.4 overs.
Arjuna Jayasinghe and Kaveen Hiniduma really made the Anandians regret for deciding to field first after winning the toss, as the pair batted throughout the opening two sessions to put their team in a commanding position.
Jayasinghe made a sedate 66 while batting with a lot of determination while Hiniduma opened out after completing a superb half century to hit a top score of 71 runs with the pair also putting on a crucial partnership to frustrate the home side.
In fact the Anandians completely misread their own conditions and will be really disappointed for this performance as they are now under tremendous pressure to save the game having reached a shaky 76 for 3 wickets in reply.
Ananda College of course depended heavily on their two stock bowlers Isuru Gunasekera and Shammu Ashan who certainly had to bend their back and work hard for their wickets under hot and humid conditions.
The pair however did not let their team down and delivered the goods while bowling some long spells with Sri Lanka Under 17 cap Shammu Ashan returning excellent figures of four wickets for 59 and Isuru Gunasekera claiming three wickets for 69.
Even then their success on the field came rather late in the innings as by that time Trinity College had really taken the initiative and were well on course towards reaching a healthy first innings total.
In fact Trinity College fully displayed their batting depth with Ron Chandraguptha and Naveen Ekanayake also providing some useful contributions during the latter stages of the innings.
Trinity College then soon got their act together well on the field with Lahiru Kumara striking two vital blows to put the home side on the back foot from the beginning.
However Ananda College recovered to reach a more respectable 76 for 3 wickets with Lakkhana Jayasekera scoring 30 runs.
Trinity College: 267 (Arjuna Jayasinghe 66, Kaveen Hiniduma 71, Ron Chandraguptha 32, Naveen Ekanayake 28, Isuru Gunasekera 3 for 69, Shammu Ashan 4 for 59)
Ananda College: 76 for 3 (Lakkhana Jayasekera 30, Lahiru Kumara 2 for 29)
