THE HISTORY OF TRINITY-ANTONIAN LIMITED OVERS SERIES – Compiled by Afzal Laphir
40th ONE-DAY ENCOUNTER – ANTONIANS HAVE THE EDGE
Image Source:wikipedia.org
The 40th one-day encounter between St Anthony’s College and Trinity College will be played at Asgiriya on Saturday, June 11th. The Antonians, who are looking for their first win since 2012, should go out as favourites based on their superior one-day performance this season. A victory to the Antonians will take the series tally to 18 wins apiece, to add to the famous tied-game in 2014 and three no-results. For more information on the history of this one-day series, please refer to my previous article.
The Antonians reached the quarter-finals of the Division 1 (Tier A) Sri Lanka Schools one-day tournament, where they were beaten by Richmond College Galle in a close affair. SACK won 4 out of the 5 first round games, defeating St Thomas’ Matara, S Thomas’ ML, St Benedict’s and St Sebastian’s and losing to St Joseph’s. In addition, the Antonians won all of their three practice games against de Mazenod, Dharmaraja and Royal College in convincing fashion, to finish with an overall one-day record of 7 wins and 2 losses for the season.
On the other hand, Trinity College failed to reach the QF of the Division 1 tournament, managing only two wins out of their five first-round games against Gurukula and Prince of Wales and losing to de Mazenod and Mahanama College Colombo. Their game against Maliyadeva was abandoned due to bad weather. TCK were soundly beaten by Mahanama for the second time, in a practice game, to finish with an overall record of 2 wins, 3 losses and 1 no-result.
Skipper Chamidu Wicremasinghe (356 runs at 50.9 in 9 innings with 4 fifties) and his deputy Asitha Wanninayake (394 runs at 56.3 in 9 innings with 4 fifties) have been in prime form this season. The two left-handers are eager to make amends for their lack of runs at the Big Match which augurs well for the Antonians. Last week’s heroes Chandimal Herath and Mohamed Aaqil are expected to provide good support despite both having lean-runs in the one-day games. Hard-hitting Lahiru Abeysinghe (165 runs with an innings of 78 against St Thomas’ Matara), opener Yasiru Gamaarachchi (167 runs with 2 fifties) and Kavindu Shehan complete the strong Antonian batting line-up.
Sri Lanka under-19 off-spinner Traveen Mathew (20 wickets in 9 one-day games) is expected to given the Trinitians the most trouble, as he did last week with a 5-wicket haul. Asitha (12 wkts), Chamidu (7 wkts), left-armer Divyesh Ramaiah (14 wkts), Lahiru (13 wkts) and Jayodaya Amarasena (10 wkts) are capable of derailing a batting line-up.
For TCK, only two fifties have been registered for the season, both coming in a losing cause against de Mazenod through skipper Akram Muthalib (68) and Manula Kularatne (52). In the five games, none of the Trinity batsmen managed to reach the 150-run tally and one positive for the Kandy boys is the presence of in-form Ranuda Somaratne, who incidentally missed all of their one-day games this season, and Pawan Pathiraja. The Trinitians need the two under-19 national representatives to prop their batting to be competitive against the formidable Antonians.
They are likely to miss the services of Matheesha Pathirana, their other national cap, who played in the SL Schools Division 1 tournament for a return of 8 wickets in 5 games. In his absence, TCK will rely heavily on all-rounders Kularatne (9 wkts) and Ehelepola (8 wkts), who will be spearheading their attack, with support from spinners Theeraka Ranathunge (10 wkts), Tharana Wimaladharma, Dinuka Thennakoon and Supun Waduge.
Cheers
AFZAL
THE HISTORY OF TRINITY-ANTONIAN LIMITED OVERS SERIES – Compiled by Afzal Laphir
Image Source:youtube.com
The Limited Over Cricket Encounter between Trinity College and St. Anthony’s College Kandy for Sir Richard Aluvihare Trophy will be played for the 40th time this Saturday (11 June 2022) at Asgiriya. The teams will be led by Chamidu Wickremasinghe (SACK) and Akram Muthalib (TCK).
The series that commenced in 1980 at Asgiriya, under the captaincy of Angelo Liyanage (SACK) and former national star Ravi Ratnayake (TCK), has been a regular fixture over the last four decades except for 2001, 2020 and 2021. Out of the 39 matches played so far, TCK has 18 wins, SACK 17 wins, one game was tied (2014) and three other encounters ended without a decision due to rain (1993, 2003 and 2008). The Antonians kicked off the series in great style by winning the first nine of the eleven games, but Trinity has clawed back since to take the lead, starting with consecutive wins in 1991 and 1992 by the narrowest of margins against formidable Antonian sides.
Trinity’s recent domination includes a run of seven games without being beaten since 2013 (6 wins and a tie) with the last Antonian win coming in 2012 under Kanishka Ranaraja. On this occasion, the Katugastota boys turned the tables on the much-fancied Trinity outfit led by Niroshan Dickwella to win by 10 runs, a week after being soundly beaten in the Big Match. This outcome resembled the year 1992 when Trinity registered a win in the one-dayer after losing the Big Match outright.
The only tie in the 39 games played to date came in 2014 at Katugastota, when Trinity’s Srimahan was run-out off the second ball of the last over. Apart from the tied game, there were many other close encounters, but none closer than the one-wicket wins registered by SACK in 1989 at Katugastota, helped by 30 extras conceded by the visitors and by TCK, just two years later, in 1991 mainly through a brilliant all-round performance by A.K Ekanayake (58 and 4/42). In terms of victories by runs, TCK’s 2-run win in 2011 and their 3-run win in 1992, both at Asgiriya, are the narrowest of them all.
Marlon reigns supreme
The Trinity-Antonian limited-over series record books should register Marlon Von Hagt’s name in indelible ink, as his tally of 447 runs (at 89.4, 2 hundreds, 2 fifties) is unlikely to ever be surpassed. With scores of 84 in 1980, 111 runs in 1981, 70 in 1982, 139 in 1983 and 43 in 1984, Marlon had the rare distinction of being the highest scorer in each of the first five games of the series, from either team. His 139 (135 balls, 15 fours, 4 sixes) at Katugastota remains the highest individual innings in the history of Trinity-Antonian limited overs games. Such was Marlon’s dominance in this innings that no other batsmen from either side reached 20. In addition to the one-day runs, Marlon has also accumulated over 450 runs in six Big Matches, giving him over 900 runs in total against Trinity in First XI cricket. He has indeed been a thorn in the flesh of the Trinitians!
Hasitha Boyagoda scored the solitary century for Trinity, during his match-winning knock of 109 at Katugastota in 2018. Antonian Kanishka Uggalpaya’s 102 in 2015 is the only century registered at Asgiriya in the limited-over series, from either team.
TEAM RECORDS
Victories: TCK – 18 (6 at Katugastota; 12 at Asgiriya); SACK – 17 (11 at Katugastota,, 6 at Asgiriya)
Highest Totals: TCK – 305/7 (50 overs in 2018 at Katugastota), SACK – 276/5 (45 overs at Katugastota) and 276/8 (50 overs at Asgiriya). The highest TCK total at Asgiriya is 240/8 (50 overs in 2000)
Lowest Totals: TCK – 71 all out (25.5 overs in 1983 at Katugastota); SACK – 89 all out (31 overs at Katugastota in 2016). The lowest totals at Asgiriya; TCK – 73 all out (35.5 overs in 1984), SACK – 92 all out (43.1 overs in 2013)
Largest Winning Margins:
By 160 runs – SACK at Katugastota in 1983 – SACK 231/9; TCK 71 all out
By 9 wkts – SACK at Asgiriya in 1990 – TCK 109 all out; SACK 111/1;
By 9 wkts – TCK at Katugastota in 2016 – SACK 89 all out; TCK 90/1 (in 9.4 overs, which is the quickest win in the series).
Narrowest Winnings Margins:
By 2 runs – TCK at Asgiriya in 2011 – TCK 230 all out, SACK 228 all out;
By 1 wkt – SACK at Katugastota in 1989 – TCK 119 all out, SACK 120/9
By 1 wkt – TCK at Katugastota in 1991 – SACK 164/9, TCK 165/9
INDIVIDUAL RECORDS
Highest Individual Innings: 139 – Marlon Von Hagt (SACK) in 1983 at Katugastota (Best score for TCK – Hasitha Boyagoda 109 in 2018 at Katugastota)
Best Bowling figures: 6/23 – Abishek Anandakumar (TCK) in 2019 at Asgiriya (Best for SACK – Kasun Ekanayake 5/24 in 2007)
Centuries:
SACK (4) – Marlon Von Hagt (111 in 1981 and 139 in 1983), Ajaz Shafeek (123 in 1993), Kanishka Uggalpaya (108 in 2015).
TCK (1) – Hasitha Boyagoda (109 in 2018)
Nervous 90s: Ishan Ratnayake TCK (92 in 2004), Nushan Weerasinghe TCK (96 in 2015)
Five-Wicket hauls:
SACK (1) – Kasun Ekanayake (5/24 in 2007)
TCK (4) – Suresh Perera (5/49 in 1980), Sachith Pathirana (5/52 in 2007), Amrit Srimahan (5/32 in 2013), Abishek Anandakumar (6/23 in 2019)
Outstanding all-round performances; – AK Ekanayake (TCK) – 58 and 4/42 in 1991; Kaushalya Weeraratne (TCK) 73 and 3/22 in 1998, Adil Reyal (SACK) 50 and 4/45 in 2010.
Compiled by Afzal Laphir
