The 104th Hill Country Battle of the Blues played between Trinity College and St. Anthony’s College ended in a draw today (22nd April) at St, Anthony’s College Grounds, Katugastota.
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On the first day of the match, Trinity College’s opening batsmen made a strong start by scoring 86 runs without losing any wickets before play was interrupted by rain. The duo resumed their innings with the same momentum on the second day and added 20 more runs to the scoreboard before Rahal Amarasinghe got out for a well-made 66 while the score was on 106. Soon after, the other opening batsman, Kusal Wijethunga, got out after scoring 37 runs.
Despite losing two quick wickets, Trinity College went past the first-inning score of St. Anthony’s College with ease, as it was only 110 runs. Trinity College was in a rush to achieve a bigger lead over St. Anthony’s before lunch so that they could declare and ask the Anthonians to bat in the second innings, which would give them a better opportunity to win the game outright.
In this process, Trinity College did lose wickets, but fortunately for them, they were able to add runs to the scoreboard as well. Dinusha Pieris, with 37 runs, and Manula Kularatne, with 44 runs, helped Trinity College post a score of 221 before getting all out right before lunch. With this score, Trinity College got a lead of 111 runs. Kaveesha Piyumal was the pick of the bowlers for St. Anthony’s College as he grabbed four wickets for 31 runs, while Traveen Mathew got 3 wickets.
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Right after lunch, St. Anthony’s College came into bat in their second innings with an uphill task ahead of them. They were trailing by 111 runs, which meant that they would have to score those 111 runs first and then add more runs on the board. The Trinity College bowling unit got off to a brilliant start in the second innings as their two fast bowlers, Manula Kularathne and Vibhawith, got two quick wickets, and the Antonians were struggling at 3 for 2.
It certainly looked like Trinity College’s day to register their first outright win in 11 years, but unfortunately for them, the rain played spoilsport again when the Anthonians were struggling at 38/3. With heavy rain, the umpires decided to call off the game, leading to a disappointing end for Trinity and relief for the Anthonians.
Having won the first innings, Trinity College was presented with the John Halangoda Trophy. With that, the 104th Hill Country Battle of the Blues came to an end. Both teams will face each other again on the 29th of April at the 41st one-day encounter at Asgiriya, which will be played for the Sir Richard Aluwihare Trophy.
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The following players received the special Awards on offer in the 104th Hill Country Battle of the Blues:
Man of the Match & Best Batsman – Rahal Amarasinghe (Trinity College)
Best Bowler – Kaveesha Piyumal (St. Anthony’s College)
Best Fielder – Kavindu Shehan (St. Anthony’s College)
Brief Scores:
St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota 1st Innings 110 (35.4) Lahiru Abeysinghe 35, Thisara Ekanayake 25, Theeraka Ranathunga 3/34, Vibhavith Ehelepola 2/20, Manula Kularathne 1/3, Tharana Wimaladharma 1/12, Dinuka Thennakoon 1/19
Trinity College, Kandy 221 (42.3) Rahal Amarasinghe 66, Manula Kularathne 44, Dinusha Pieris 37, Kusal Wijethunga 34, Kaveesha Piyumal 4/31, Traveen Mathew 3/43
St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota 38/3 (11.1) Janith Rathnairi 17*, Kavindu Shehan 11, Manula Kularathne 2/21
 at St, Anthony’s College Grounds, Katugastota.){kind=link}