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| Sunday, 6 March 2005 |
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Antonians order batsmen to tame Pathirana by: S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports Corr. Tame the bowling prodigy fifteen year-old Sachith Pathirana will be the orders when St. Anthony's College take on Trinity College in their 89th "Bettle of the Blues" which will be played at Katugastota on March 11 and 12 with play commencing at 9.45 on each day. Trinity College are enjoying one of their best seasons as they have posted as many as seven outright victories which no Trinity side has over done though they have been playing more matches than in other years but this does not take away the gloss from their achievements because a victory is a victory. A total of 88 matches have been played in the series with Trinity still in the lead with 22 wins against 11 by the Antonians most of which had been registered after 1951 when the Eagles cricket showed a remarkable improvement with the centenary team of 1954 led by A. C. M. Lafir being one of the best when they cornered the Trinity lions by an innings. The Antonians have also produced the worlds best off-spinner in Muralitharan. Fifty five matches have ended in draws. Trinity College will be led by fifth year coloursman Madhuranga, a superb allrounder and his positive approach had yielded excellent results winning 7 matches, losing 2 and drawing the balance 8 matches they have played have been left drawn. This will give some indication on the positive cricket played by the Lions as they have often thrown open the game when others would have opted to put the shutters down and play safe. Madhuranga Munaweera has himself led from the front by amassing 900 runs including a ton with his aggressive batting. He has also captured 65 wickets with his medium pacers. He is a skipper who is not selfish and does not overbowl himself and brings in the spinners very early if the conditions suits slow bowling. This was evidenced in the match against Mahinda concluded two days back when he opened with that little left-arm spinner Sachith Pathirana in the second innings and bowler responded magnificently by capturing 7 wickets, 5 of them being bowled and 2 trapped in front. Fourth year player Sisitha Jayasingha is the deputy skipper and he will open the side's batting and is also a good right-arm off spinner. He has really struck form with both bat and ball in the last few matches. Spearheading the attack will be skipper Madhuranga Munaweera and Clifford Fernando with Mohammed Sazeer coming in as the third pacey with Arinda Bulunuwewa too could be useful here if the necessity arises. With 100 wickets under his hat during the current season, left-arm spinner Sachith Pathirana is the leading spinner and supporting him will be off-spinner Charish Dumbarage, left-arm spinner Arinda Bulunuwewa, and off-spinner Lasith Jayatillake. Dilan Gangoda will keep wickets with Diluka Talagoda as his deputy. St. Anthony's College will be led by third year player Pramodth Fernando, a third year player with the strains of leading a side under construction had had an effect on his performance with the bat and the ball. He has scored 350 runs and also captured 25 wickets with his off-spinners. A talented cricketer, he is expected to come good in this big occasion. The Antonians have played ten matches this season and all have been drawn, thus the team has remained unbeaten, a record which their opponents could not maintain this season. Shameer Munas is the leading run-getter of the side scoring 420 runs including a top score of 74 against St. Peter's College. The best performance of the Antonians has been against the strong Josephians whom they held to a draw. The Antonian's batting will revolve around skipper Pramodth Fernando, Shameer Munas, Sameera Weerabahu, Selwyn Jamion, Gimhana Dissanayake, Harsha Medagoda, Sahan Pallihekkara, Adil Reyal, S. Reyal, Dinuka Wijewardena and Malindu Perera. Vice Captain Sameera Weerabahu will lead the new ball attack with Selwyn Jamion followed by Peter Samarakoon. Skipper Pramodth Fernando will be their main spinner followed by Harsha Medagoda (off-spin), Sahan Pallihakkara (left arm spin), Adil Reyal (left arm spin) Shameer Munas (off cutters), Prasanga Illangakoon will keep wickets with Gimhana Dissanayake too could occupy this position. The last time a decision was reached in this battle was in 1992 when the Antonians won under Umesh de Alwis. The Trinitians last won in 1986 under Thushara Weerasuriya. |
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