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| Rushan Jaleel |
Sahan Palihakkara |
The Antonians have the better track record going into the 93rd Big Match against Trinity on home territory on the 13th and 14th of March.
The hosts tarnished their hitherto unbeaten record when they were beaten by the Peterites. The "other saints" – the Josephians almost had them for dinner, too. On the credit side of the ledger, they have six outright wins and several totals in the high 2005. Their 335 against the formidable Anandians, and the resultant first innings lead, stands out as one of their best achievements.
The hugely experienced Sahan Palihakkara leads the Eagles. A punishing bat and a left arm spinner, has topped 350 with the bat and shared 35 wickets. Trinitians will no doubt remember the 70 plus he made in last year's match. His knock gave the Antonians a healthy first innings lead.
Royal, especially, and Edirisinghe have been the twin agents of destruction with bat and ball. Their performances, or lack of them, will have a big impact on their fortunes. Malindu Perera has been very consistent, while opener Hiran Wickremasekera has a couple of hundreds.
Within 15 year olds Woods and Ranaraja coming good, the Antonian batting has a solid look. Not so the bowling, which is overly reliant on the off breaks of Edirisinghe and the leg spin of Reyal and Palihakkara. A paucity of fast bowling resources has seen both teams opening with a spinner.
Diminutive off spinner Rushan Jaleel, the Trinity Skipper has had a dream season with the ball. A 9 for against Royal (in a losing cause it must be added), plus several bags of five and six make him the danger man. He has also made his presence felt with the bat.
Gangoda, who has three hundreds, is the biggest threat. Kithmal Wimalaweera has been a revelation and has come up with sizable scores regularly. Sajid has made runs consistently while 15-year-old Niroshan Dickwella came up with a hundred. Wijesuriya has got to be prised out. The Trinitians, like their opponents, have a long batting line up. The rub is that they have freezed collectively and on many occasions have been bowled out fairly cheaply – 125 (St. Peters) 118 and 88/7 (Ananda) 129 and 117 (Royal).
Despite Jaleel's success, the bowler who could trouble the Antonians is leggie Akila Jayasundera. He has missed a few games because of injury, but has had good hauls many a time. Wickrema a good bat, has disappointed but has compensated latterly with some good bowling.
Trinity had several good wins but came a cropper against St. Peters, Royal and Isipathana. Their triumph over Dharmaraja was a minor jewel in the Kandyan crowns.
Despite the ups and downs, both teams have good batting line ups, with the bowling resources being limited, this could be a draw, but an interesting one.
Trinity (From) Rushan Jaleel (Capt.), Mohamed Sajid, Dilan Gangoda, Akila Jayasundera, Dinuk Weeraratne, Suresh Wickrema, Kithmal Wimalaweera, Sameera Wijesuriya, Niroshan Dickwella, Chintaka Gokula, Keheliya Athogda, Janishka Ranasinghe, Mohamed Shehan, Cahmath Umodantha.
Coach – Sampath Perera.
St. Anthony's ( from) Sahan Palihakkara (Capt.), Jerome Siegertsz, Reyal Kasun Edirisinghe, Malindu Perera, Hiran Wickremasekera, Dulash Kuarasinghe, Tharanga Bandara, Yohan Woods, Kanisska Ranaraja, Manoj Sarachchandra, Milinda Ranasinghe, Lasantha Bandara, Supun Ranaraja Anura Bandara. Coach – Champika Siriwardena. |
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