Trinity College Kandy retained the John Halangoda trophy for another successive year as they went on to receive first innings honors at the 97th Battle of the Blues which concluded this evening at the Katugastota Oval, St. Anthony’s College Kandy.
The rain factor went on to be one of the vital factors in this year’s encounter as play had to be paused on several occasions due to the pertaining weather conditions. Thus the first day of play resulted only having a single session played while today the officials had to call off play after the tea break.
The Antonians batting first in the encounter amassed a total of 56 runs for the loss of 4 wickets at the end of the lunch break of day one before play was called off. The Trinity bowlers had already pressurized the Antonian batting lineup in the very first session itself and the Eagles tried their best to limit their mistakes to keep maintain the wickets.
Resuming play early this morning, things did not go the Antonian way from the very beginning. Given the new ball to prove himself in the Eagles turf, it was the tall man Amrith Sri Mahan who ripped the Antonian batting order apart. Two wickets in consecutive overs left the Antonian side in deep trouble at 64 for 6.
Concentration was key for the Antonians but they failed in their attempt since it was not only paceman Sri Mahan who was causing the trouble. On the other end it was Lakshan Jayasinghe who was pressurizing the batsman. In a matter of few overs, the hosts 81 runs for the loss of 9 wickets with Jayasinghe taking two more. Though people expected a quicker finish, some resistant batting from the Antonian final pair delayed Trinity starting off their first innings. St. Anthony’s ended their essay at 107 runs just before the lunch break.
Coming into bat, the two openers of the Lions started looking for runs from the very first ball. A boundary to start with, the duo Bhagya Palihawadana and Lakshita Dassanayaka were able to reach the 50 run partnership tag in less than 18 overs. Lakshita Dassanayaka scored 34 before he was dismissed while the quick-fire Bhagya Palihawadana went on to pile up a successful score of 79 runs before being dismissed to the Antonian skipper Sachin Bulathsinghala. Deputy Rajitha Jayathunga was dismissed first ball while credit for Trinity’s innings should go to Bhagya Palihawadana for his efforts.
Trinity declared at 137/4 having successfully completed the first innings objective. The Antonian bowling department was not at all satisfactory with only skipper Bulathisinghala solitarily captured the four Trinity batsmen.
Hopes of a victory were out of the mindset since it was not possible for an outright victory in the lapse of 50 or 60 overs. Coming to bat the Eagles were 49 runs for the loss of one wicket before the rain clouds pondered over the Katugastota grounds. The Antonian batsman Nimesha Gunasinghe and Viraj Deepal had finally made quite a comeback after that disastrous first innings but the weather gods decided to call it for the day unfortunately.
Play was abandoned due to persisting weather conditions giving Trinity to retain possession of the John Halangoda Trophy. If the continuous rainy weather did not exist, Trinity College would have surely been in the brink of playing another outright win. Thus in a way, the Eagles were saved over the weather.
Bhagya Palihawadana was adjudged the best batsman for his knock of 78 runs and also the Man of the Match. The best bowler award went to the Antonian skipper Sachin Bulathsinghala for his efforts and Ron Chandragupta took home the Best Fielder award.
As we see an end to the 97th Battle, the one to look forward is the One Day which will be played at the Asgiriya International Stadium next Saturday.
