TRINITY, RICHMOND CLASH FOR SUPREMACY

Trinity College

Richmond College

Manula Kularatne (Trinity College Captain)

Malsha Tharupathi (Richmond College Captain)

By M. Shamil Amit

The curtains of the Under-19 inter-school Division One Tier ‘A’ two-day tournament will come down this week with the final clash for supremacy to lay the hands on the title between defending joint champions Trinity College and Richmond College scheduled to be played over the next three days starting today at the SSC ground.
The match will no doubt be of interest to the old boys and supporters of the two teams as they will be coming into the final with a mission, and a closely contested tussle is no doubt on the cards as the sides are led by two Sri Lanka youth players, with Manula Kularathna spearheading the Trinitians and the Richmondites being guided by Malsha Tharupathi, who had a successful stint at the ICC U19 Youth World Cup held in South Africa.
As mentioned, Trinity will come into the field with the mission of going a step further, having shared the title with St. Joseph’s last year due to the match being abandoned, while Richmond, who got the better of their opponents with a first-inning win when they met each other in the league encounter, will be coming into the game with the aim of laying their hands on the title with a better performance.
The two teams contested in the same Group X when the tournament began, and Richmond succeeded in coming out as the top team in the group before booking the berth to the quarter-final, where they overcame Nalanda and then followed it up by getting the better of St Sebastian’s in the semi-final encounter.
Trinity, on the other hand, cannot be satisfied with their performance, as they managed to end the league campaign as the fourth-best team to advance to the quarter-final and went past DSS before securing a first-inning win over Mahanama in the semi-final to book the slot in the final.
The two teams comprise talented players, with Richmond, apart from skipper and allrounder Tharupathi, posses players in the calibre of Thamindu Pradeeptha, Sharon Abishek, another allrounder, Chehan Subasinghe, Malith de Silva, Yuri Koththigoda, and Nikil Jayaweera, to name a few, who have all made their contributions for Richmond in their road to the final.
Trinity skipper Kularathna has two top players in Supun Waduge and Dinuka Tennekoon, along with Viduka Dhammage, Tharana Wimaladharma, Vathila Udara, Dimantha Mahavithana, Dinusha Peiris, and Malith Ratnayake, to name a few, from whom much will be expected.
However, with the match being crucial for the two teams, the supporters could expect a keenly contested contest that for sure will leave no stone unturned as they will be seeking to lay their hands on the title and emerge as the ultimate champions.

The Teams:

Trinity: Manula Kularathna (Captain), Dinusha Pieris, Janith Warnakula, Supun Waduge, Vathila Udara, Viduka Dhammage, Dimantha Mahavithana, Malith Ratnayake, Dinuka Thennakoon, Tharana Wimaladharma, Thisal Yapa, Rajindu Thilakaratne, Jayavi Liyanagama, Kavindu Jayaratne, Viduneth Dhammage, Sweath Anurajeewa, Ometh Bandara, Kaveen Gamage, Pulisha Thilakaratne, Bryan Senaratne (Master in Charge), Naveen Ekanayake (Head Coach), Lakshitha Alahakoon (Asst. Coach)
Richmond: Malsha Tharupathi (Captain), Sharon Abishek, Thamindu Pradeeptha, Chehan Subasinghe, Malith de Silva, Seneth Sisan, Yuri Koththigoda, Sihath Ramanayaka, Kaveesha Induwara, Shehan de Zoysa, Nikil Jayaweera, Pubudu Mihiranga, Rasanga Thejan, Nethsara Akash, Punal Hansajith, Chamod Punsara, Sachindu Nimsara, Tenusha Nimsara, Bevin Jayawardena, Minaga Ariyadasa, Nuwan Jayasinghe (Master in Charge), Lakmal de Silva (Head Coach), Sidath Priyankara (Asst. Coach), Lahiru Maduwantha (Asst. Coach)