The echoes of a historic victory rang out across the Asgiriya International Cricket Stadium on Saturday as Trinity College Kandy finally broke a 14-year drawn encounter hoodoo to finally win a Hill Country Battle of the Blues title. Defeating their traditional rivals, St Anthony’s College, by a resounding 9 wickets, the Trinitians delivered a performance that will be etched in the annals of school cricket history.
For over a decade, this epic battle continued with drawn games, with the fierce rivalry often ending in stalemate. However, led by a national youth-capped captain, Deemantha Mahavithana, and fuelled by a monumental first-innings century by Adham Hilmy, Trinity refused to settle for anything less than victory this time around.
At the commencement of Day 3, St Anthony’s were trailing by 98 runs, and the Trinitians tried to wrap up the thing quickly. On the contrary, the Antonians were determined to play as long as they could and post at least another drawn game. Antonian striker Kavindu started the scoring with a stylish straight drive which eventually crossed the boundary rope. Since then the batting pair Kavindu Udagedaraarachchi and Kalpana took the control of the game into their hands and built a slow but steady partnership of 65 runs. While Antonians were counter-attacking, there was a total mix-up between the batsmen, resulting in an unlucky run-out. Hence, Kavindu departed for a well-constructed 36 runs by again swinging the pendulum in favour of the Trinity Lions.
After facing his first delivery, Praveen Gamage went for a leg-side scoop, but Chaniru Senarathne got a sharp turn to hit the timber to give the second blow of the over. In the next over, Kanilka Anthony delivered a peach of a delivery against Sanuka Kalpana to remove him for a well-made 26 runs. There he gained a massive turn and was able to find the leading edge of Kalpana to dismantle the set batsman. Just before the lunch break, the Trinitians quickly managed to turn the scoreboard in their favour by collapsing Antonians from 74/1 to 74/4.
Sethmika resumed the play after the break, and the Antonian skipper Kaushika Kumarasinghe made a glorious straight drive to start the scoring with a boundary. Then the captain kept attacking Trinity bowlers and produced three huge sixes over mid-wicket. The pair put up a fifty-run partnership by getting away from the jaws of an innings defeat. Suddenly Amarakoon made a cross stroke and completely missed the ball as Kanilka, who is usually accurate with his line and length, managed to hit the timber.
After the lunch, Antonian skipper Kumarasinghe completed a valuable half-century with another massive hit over the mid-wicket area from a tossed-up delivery. When Kumarasinghe was carrying out a rescue mission and extending the lead, Kanilka Anthony delivered a classic chinaman’s delivery to remove the dangerman through an LBW decision. When the lead was extended by another 10 runs, Anthony again found a sharp turn to remove Sanithu Gunathilake, who was caught at the first slip.
Then Anthony continued to display his brilliance by seeing the back of the last recognised batsman, Dinal Wijesinghe, by again finding the edge to the wicketkeeper. Then Ryan Gregory’s stay was limited to a single delivery as he was brilliantly caught after giving a leading edge. With the wicket, Kanilka Anthony completed his five-wicket haul, being the major destruction of the rival innings. Antonians lost their last three wickets cheaply by just adding 1 run and were finally bundled out for just 170 runs. Skipper Kumarasinghe, who produced a fighting innings, top-scored with 59 runs. Kanilka Anthony went away with a bag of six wickets, while Chaniru Senarathne supported well by picking up a couple of wickets. Here, Kanilka Anthony spun a web around the Antonian batting lineup by picking six scalps in the second inning to complete a brilliant match bag of 10 wickets.
After receiving a target of 64 runs, Trinity got off to a flying start. Deemantha Mahavithana spearheaded the attack with some stylish square cuts, powerful pull shots and classic square drives. While attempting a cracking shot, Puleesha Thilakaratne departed against the Antonian vice captain Welianga. When Trinity College were short of six runs to complete a historic victory, an ugly scene unfolded on the pitch as Antonians deliberately delayed the game. Hence, after issuing a warning, a penalty of five runs was awarded to Trinity. As the Antonians continuously refrained from bowling, the match officials declared Trinity the winner of the “107th Hill Country Battle of the Blues”. This marked the first success by either team after Trinity’s heroic display in 2012, under the captaincy of national wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella.
This victory marks a significant turning point in the Hill Country Battle of the Blues. For 14 long years, the trophy had remained shared due to drawn encounters. On this day, however, Trinity College, led by the cool-headed Mahavithana and inspired by Hilmy’s bat, ensured that the red, yellow and blue flag flew highest at Asgiriya, reclaiming the supremacy of Kandy’s cricketing landscape.
Scorecard in brief
St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota (1st inning) – 157 all out (57.3 Overs)
Sisal Attanayake 64*, Kaushika Kumarasinghe 44, Dinul wijesinghe 15, Dasun Walianga 10
Kanilka Anthony 54/4, Dinal Fernando 09/2, Chaniru Senarathne 30/2, Malika Vithanage 04/1, Sethmike Senevirathne 34/1,
Trinity College, Kandy (1st inning) 264 all out (82.3 Overs)
Adham Hilmy 125, Dimantha Mahavithana 54, Sethmika Senevirathne 29, Viduneth Dhammage 15, Chaniru Senarathne 10,
Sisal Attanayake 41/3, Kaveesha Samarathunga 55/3, Sanithu Gunathilake 15/1, Praveen Gamage 12/1, Ryan Gregory 71/1, Dasun Walianga 50/1
St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota (2nd inning) – 170 all out (60.4 Overs)
Kaushika Kumarasinghe 59, Kavindu Udagedaraarachchi 36, Sanuka Kalpana 29, Dinul Wijesinghe 17, Kanilaka Anthony 56/6, Chaniru Senarathne 52/2, Dinal Fernando 26/1
Trinity College, Kandy (2nd inning) – 63/1 (5.2 Overs)
Dimantha Mahavithana 26*, Puleesha Thilakarathne 11, Dasun Welianga 25/1
Trinity College won by 9 wickets
Special Awards
- Best Fielder – Viduneth Dhammage (Trinity)
- Best Bowler – Kanilka Anthony (Trinity)
- Best Batsman – Adham Hilmy (Trinity)
- Player of the Match – Kanilka Anthony (Trinity)
