Under 19 Final Defending champs Trinity and St. Joseph’s clash in final today

By M. Shamil Amit

Defending champions of the Under 19 Division One Tier ‘A” segment limited over tournament Trinity College will clash in the final against St. Joseph’s College scheduled to be played from 9.30 a.m. onwards at the Thurstan grounds today.  

In the run up to the final the two teams were in the same group with Trinity led by Manula Kularatne ending as the second best team and secured wins against De Mazenod by eight wickets in the quarter final and then got the better of Royal Colombo by five runs on the D/L method while St. Joseph’s led by Lahiru Amarasekera ended as the fourth best team and made it to the final with wins against Richmond by two wickets and De Mazenod by four wickets in the quarter and semi final encounters.  
The two sides posses talented players with Trinity who will be seeking to retain the title for yet another year apart from skipper Kularatne will pin their hopes on Supun Waduge who has been in top form having made a ton in the semi final against Royal, Viduka Dhammage, Vathila Udara and Dinusha Peiris to name a few.  

St. Joseph’s on the other hand will depend on Hiru Kapurubandara who has made three tons in this tournament so far and he for sure will be the cynosure of all eyes and the others from whom much will be expected are Abishek Jayaweera, Rishma Amarasinghe, Maanasa Madubashana, Yenula Dewthusa and Hiran Jayasundara.  

However the inclement weather prevailing at present will no doubt play a crucial role and it’s left to be seen whether the Trinitians who are seeking to retain the title be able to evade the challenge that will be facing against the Josephians.  

The teams:  

Trinity – Manula Kularatne (Capt), Supun Waduge, Viduka Dhammage, Vathila Udara, Dinusha Peiris, Janith Ravishka, Jayavi Liyanagama, Dinuka Tennekoon, Tharana Wimaladharma, Rajindu Tilekeratne, Malith Ratnayake, Lakwin Abeysinghe, Kaveen Heshan, R. Warnakula, Dimantha Mahavithana, K. Jayaratne, S. Bandara, Bryan Samararatne (MIC), Naveen Ekanayake (Head Coach), Lakshitha Alahakoon (Asst Coach)  

St. Joseph’s – Lahiru Amarasekera (Capt), Hiran Jayasundara, Hirun Kapurubandara, Abishek Jayaweera, Aveesha Samash, Rishma Amarasinghe, Maanasa Madubashana, Yenula Dewthusa, Nushan Perera, Dunick Perera, Damian de Silva, Deshan Thalahitiyagala, Hiran Ranaweera, Damian De Silva, Kaven Pathirana, Nimthaka Goonewardena, , Senuja Wakunugoda, Asiri Caldera (Master in Charge), Dilan Ramanayake (Head Coach), Dinal Dhambarage (Asst. Coach), Torin Pitigala (Asst. Coach)