Trinity College was successfully able to take full control and establish themselves in a strong foundation with the hosts ending the days play at 98 runs for the loss of three wickets for their 1st innings in the 98th Kandyan Battle of the Blues cricketing encounter.
The traditional encounter where the Lions encounter the Eagles relived to its highest possible standard on and off the field showcasing the true spirit of sportsmanship and brothers which runs deep down these two institutions.
One of the most anticipated cricket encounters, the Trinity Antonian cricketing fixture came alive for the 98th successive occasion at the Asgiriya International Cricket Stadium. Coming in to bat first in this 98th edition, the visitors St. Anthony’s College Kandy had a steady start despite losing one of their openers early in the innings. Coming in to bat, skipper Nimesha Gunasinghe with Kanishka Uggalpaya steadied the innings and made way for the runs to come at a steady pace. Despite such efforts, the wickets kept falling as the Antonians were put on a pressure test by the Trinity bowling department.
The dismissal of Nimesha Gunasinghe was key as he was dismissed owing to a poor shot. The wickets kept falling due to the extensive spin attack enforced and by midday St. Anthony’s College were 83/5. Whilst hope was fading away, it was the Antonian vice skipper, Buweneka Wiejthunge with Damithra Panditharatna who took charge of compiling a bigger total. The duo accumulated amongst the two of them a 65+ runs to make the Antonian scores drift past the three figure mark.
Buweneka Wijethunga ended up with a figure of 42 before he was dismissed by Sayer. Despite being cautious and calm during the entire innings, Panditaratna had to walk to the dressing room when he got out cheaply through a run out. The rest of the Eagle’s wickets fell within 30 runs as Trinity wrapped up their 1st innings at 188.
It was not the best day for the bowlers at Asgiriya as they also had to work hard for their wickets. Raveen Sayer was the premiere in the destruction of the Antonian top order while the rest of the workforce got equally divided among the rest. Raveen Sayer and Charith Sudaraka picked 3 wickets a piece while Lakshan Jayasinghe, Amrith Sri Mahan and Lahiru Kumara picked one each
Coming into bat, Trinity College accelerated their innings with some quick scoring by the openers but the 6th over which was bowled by the Antonian pacer Dilan Jayalath did much of the damage as he took the important wicket of Kaveen Hinduma and two balls later got Shanogeeth Shanmuganathan out for a duck. Arjuna Jayasinghe and Nushan Weerasinghe were on the verge of building up a solid innings but he too had to make that walk as he was run out by the Antonian fielders.
Coming into bat, skipper Ron Chandragupta and Nushan Weerasinghe steadied the ship and are currently cruising after establishing them quite well. Nushan Weerasinghe ended his day’s innings at 44 without loss while skipper Chandragupta scored 14 not out.
With one more day remaining, a score over the 250 mark will be surely pose a threat to their counterparts. St. Anthony’s have however performed quite well and if they continue this form of play, they would vice versa pose a formidable threat.
The possibilities of an outright win does seem a bit remote but this fixture can never be predicted. Play shall resume at 9.30 a.m. tomorrow and will be telecasted live on ThePapare’s exclusive web feed.
