TRINITY-ANTONIAN ENCOUNTERS – A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
Additional facts:
The 24 wins by TCK were registered in 1915, 1918 to 1928, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1938, 1939, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1951, 1986, 2012 and 2026.
SACK won their games in 1914, 1917, 1929, 1948, 1954, 1962, 1968, 1972, 1981, 1990 and 1992.
The encounter was not played in 1916, 1956, 1957, 2001, 2020 and 2021.
The 1956 and 1957 games were cancelled due to a disagreement between the two schools regarding the age rule and in 2001, the encounter did not take place as Trinity terminated their season early in the year due to disciplinary reasons. The games in 2020 and 2021 were postponed and eventually cancelled due to Covid and prevailing situation in the country.
The 2025 encounter, held from April 3 to 5, marked the first-ever 3-day game in the series. The 3-day trend continued in 2026.
Out of 35 outright results generated by both teams, 14 have ended in an innings win (10 by TCK and 4 by SACK).
Interestingly, despite Trinity’s dominance in the series, the Antonians have a better record post- independence, i.e from 1948 onwards, with 8 wins to 4.
First Wins:
Last Wins:
Note:
The following records are based on information extracted from the archives of both schools and from newspaper reports where available. Despite the best efforts of the author, the data is incomplete, especially from the 1914 and 1915 games where apart from the results, no other information was available.
Largest Victory Margins:
Narrowest Victory Margins:
Note: the victory margin of the 1915 encounter at Asgiriya was not available at the time of compiling the records and therefore not considered here.
Highest Totals
The three highest totals registered by the two schools at each venue:
Lowest Totals
The three lowest totals registered by the two schools at each venue:
Note: Pallekelle is excluded here due to a lack of games at this venue.
Individual Records:
BATTING:
Highest Score:
First century:
Twin fifties in a game:
Mahesh Gunathilake (SACK) 61 & 62* at Asgiriya (1971)
J Arambepola (TCK) 52 & 52* at Asgiriya (1979)
Marlon Von Hagt (SACK) 61 & 52 at Katugastota (1982)
Chandimal Herath (SACK) 61 & 54 at Asgiriya (2022)
Two hundreds in the Series:
TB Werapitiya (TCK) 100 (1943) and 143 (1944). Also scored 96 (1942)
Ronnie Stephens (SACK) 108 (1952) and 103 (1954)
Three or more 50+ scores in the series:
4 - Marlon Von Hagt (SACK) 61 & 52 (1982), 57 (1983), 123 (1984). Also scored 49 (1979)
3 – TB Werapitiya (TCK) 96 (1942), 100 (1943), 143 (1944)
3 - ACM Lafir (SACK) 65 (1950), 74 (1951) and 176 (1954)
3 – Mahesh Gunathileke (SACK) 76 (1970), 61 & 62* (1971)
3 – Hasitha Boyagoda (TCK) 55* (2016), 90 (2017), 72 (2018)
Note: SA Odayar (TCK), Lalith Ramanayake (TCK), Sajith Fernando (SACK) and Tyrone de Silva (SACK) came close to being part of this group. Odayar made 48 (1927), 60 (1928) and 87 (1930). He missed out in 1929 when the Trinitians were dismissed for 95 and 92 in the two innings giving the Antonians a rare outright win in that period. Ramanayake played in only two Big Matches (1970 and 1971), scoring 110 in 1970 and 79 & 48 in 1971. On the other hand, Sajith scored 70, 46 and 55 in three consecutive games between 1990 to 1992. Tyrone made 49 (2000), 81 (2002) and 64 (2003) and he missed out in 2001 by virtue of the game being cancelled.
Antonian Kaushika Kumarasinghe has recorded scores of 32 (2024), 136 (2025), and 44 and 59 (2026) across his four Big Match innings so far, giving him a strong chance to join this elite group next year.
Centuries:(Total 33, SACK 20, TCK 13)
^Note: Meryl Dunuwille scored the first century on the new turf at Katugastota.
Centuries by both teams in the same match:
Two Centuries by the same team in one game:
Nervous 90s:
Charlie Joseph is the only Antonian in this group of seven players who reached 90 without going on to a century. He is also the only batter to be stranded in the 90s without being dismissed.
Most Runs:
Marlon Von Hagt has scored the most runs in the series, with 465 runs in 12 innings at an average of 38.75. ACM Lafir (396 runs in 6 games) and TB Werapitiya (350 runs in 4 games) occupy second and third slots.
Carrying the bat through:
In the 2026 match, Antonian opener Sisal Hemaka achieved the rare feat of carrying his bat, finishing unbeaten on 64 when the final wicket fell in the first innings. Only one other opening batter has managed this feat in the history of Trinity–Antonian encounters: Antonian A.H.K. Omar, who remained not out on 28 in a total of 91 in the second innings of the 1927 match at Bogambara. Although Omar had batted in the middle order in the first innings, he was required to open in the second. Interestingly, Trinity went on to win that match by the same margin as in 2026—by 9 wickets.
BOWLING:
Best bowling figures in an innings:
Best bowling figures in a match:
Three or more 5-wicket hauls in the series:
3 – RB Ettipola (TCK) 5/34 (1922), 5/46 (1923), 7/44 (1925). Also took 4/20 (1924)
3 – C Dharmalingham (TCK) 9/74 (1938), 6/17 & 6/31 (1939)
3 – Pradeep Fernando (SACK) 5/27 (1980), 5/60 & 6/43 (1981). Also took 4/26 (1979)
3 – M Muralitharan (SACK) 6/19 (1990), 6/58 & 6/36 (1991)
Note: PR Maralande (TCK) captured 5/54 (1918), 4/27 (1919), 4/23 & 4/32 (1920) and 7/28 (1922). TOM Deen (SACK) with 4/29 (1952), 5/29 & 6/32 (1953) and 4/52 (1954) also came close to joining the group.
10-wicket match bags: (Total 11, SACK 6, TCK 5)
Most wickets:
33 PR Maralande (TCK) in 6 games at 8.15
27 Pradeep Fernando (SACK) in 4 games at 11.96
25 RB Ettipola (TCK) in 4 games
Note: C Dharmalingham (TCK) and M Muralitharan (SACK) did outstandingly well in two of the three games they were able to represent, finishing with 21 and 20 wickets respectively for the series. TOM Deen (SACK) with 21 wickets and C Shanmuganathan (TCK) with 19 wickets were also consistent wicket takers in the series.
Best all-round performances (50+ runs and 4+ wickets in an innings)
Notes:
Antonian Franklyn Burke is the only player in the history of Trinity-Antonian encounters to have scored a century and captured a 5-wicket haul in the same match.
EWA Buultjens (TCK), GB Perera (TCK) and Sajith Fernando (SACK) had the distinction of scoring a half-century and capturing a match bag of 10-wickets in the same game.
Trinitian PR Maralande (261 runs and 33 wickets in 6 games) has the best record as an all-rounder in the series.
Played in most games:
Highest Partnerships:
