Trinity awarded victory in controversy marred 107th Hill Country Blues Battle
The 107th Hill Country Battle of the Blues between traditional rivals Trinity College and St. Anthony’s College played at the Asgiriya Stadium, came to an end in controversial fashion when the match was called off with Trinity in pursuit of 64 runs for victory and needing just one more run.
According to sources, a slight drizzle prompted the Antonian players to begin protesting when Trinity were just six runs away from victory. Despite requests from the umpires to continue play, they refused to resume when the umpire awarded five penalty runs to Trinity’s total. With just one run required, the umpires attempted to continue the match, but the Antonians declined to take the field. This was after the two Trinity batsmen and the on-field umpires had already taken the field to continue play.
The situation escalated when supporters stormed onto the ground, forcing security personnel to escort the umpires and Trinity players off the field. With an addition of five more penalty runs, the umpires subsequently decided to award the match to Trinity, who were on the verge of an obvious victory.
Meanwhile, a match-winning six-wicket haul by left-arm spinner Kanilka Anthony paved the way for Trinity to take the upper hand on the third day. It was Trinity’s top scorer Adhan Hilmy who laid the foundation on day two with a fine knock of 125. He rescued his side when they were in a spot of bother at 71-5, and his innings helped Trinity post a commanding total of 264.
St. Anthony’s, resuming the final day’s play at 9-1, saw the overnight pair of Sanuka Kalpana and Kavindu Navanjana make steady progress as they added a 65-run stand for the second wicket. However, their dismissal saw the side lose momentum. From a comfortable position of 74-1, St. Anthony’s began to lose wickets at regular intervals and slipped to 127-7.
Despite skipper Kaushika Kumarasinghe top-scoring with 54, he was left stranded as his partners fell at the other end. The side eventually lost their remaining five wickets for the addition of 45 runs and were bowled out for 170, with Anthony doing the damage with a six-wicket haul.
Chasing a target of 64 runs for victory, Trinity openers, skipper Dimantha Mahavithana and Pulisha Tilekeratne made light work of the chase. The pair shared a 51-run opening stand as Trinity raced towards the target with ease before the controversy erupted. This was Trinity’s 24th win in the series and their first victory after a lapse of 14 years, the last coming in 2012 when the side was led by Niroshan Dickwella.
| Scoreboard | |
| St. Anthony’s 1st innings 157 all out (57.3) (Sisal Hemaka 64n.o., Kaushika Kumarasinghe 44; Kanilka Anthony 4/34, Dinal Fernando 2/9, Chaniru Senaratne 2/30) Trinity 1st innings 264 all out (82.3) (Adham Hilmy 125, Dimantha Mahavithana 54, Sethmika Seneviratne 29; Sisal Hemaka 3/41, Kaveesha Samaratunga 3/55) St. Anthony’s 2nd innings (9-1 overnight) Sanuka Kalpana c Hilmy b Anthony 19 Sisal Hemaka lbw b Senaratne 02 Kavindu Navanjana run out 36 Praveen Gamage b Senaratne 00 Kaushika Kumarasinghe lbw b Anthony 59 Sadew Amarakoon b Anthony 09 Dinul Wijesinghe c Hilmy b Anthony 17 Sanithu Gunatilleke c Dhammage b Anthony 02 Dasun Walyanga not out 05 Rayan Gregory c Tilekeratne b Anthony 00 Kaveesha Samaratunga st Hilmy b Fernando 00 Extras (b9, nb2) 11 Total (all out; 60.4 overs) 170 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-74, 3-73, 5-74, 5-127, 6-150, 7-160, 8-169, 9-169, 10-170 Bowling: Sethmika Seneviratne 8-2-21-0, Chaniru Senaratne 20-5-5`-2, Kanilka Anthony 21-5-56-6, Dinal Fernando 7.4-1-26-1, Malika Vithanage 3-2-6-0, Viduneth Dhammage 1-0-1-0 Trinity 2nd innings (Target 64) Dimantha Mahavithana not out 26 Pulisha Tilekeratne c Kalpana b Waliyanga 11 Sethmika Seneviratne not out 04 Extras (b5, nb2, wd5) 12 Penalty 10 Total (1 wicket; 5.2 overs) 63 Fall of wickets: 1-52 Bowling: Dasun Waliyanga 3-0-25-1, Kaushika Kumarasinghe 2.2-0-13-0 |