93rd Battle of the Maroons  

by Reemus Fernando  

Nalanda will have a slight edge over their arch rivals Ananda when the two teams meet in the 93rd Battle of the Maroons at the SSC ground over the weekend (March 4-5).

Nalanda do not have the two Sri Lanka Under 19 team members who played key roles during the last season and helped record a historic Big Match victory. But under Chanul Athukorala’s captaincy Nalanda’s balance outfit have done well and can challenge any formidable team. One could only get misled if they judge the strength by their tournament standings.

They have a strong top order batting line up with wicketkeeper batsman Rusiru Vilochana leading from the front. Vilochana is among the leading batsmen in the tournament, having over 1000 runs against his name. He scored two centuries this season and his 1194 runs have come at an average of 54.3 runs.

Yasiru Samarakoon who opens batting has over 500 runs for the season, while Sadew Samarasinghe (over 600runs), Kushmitha Silva (over 400 runs) and Eranga Jayakody (over 500 runs) have all contributed with the bat.

Spin trio of Minod Caldera, Sajitha Vithanage and Janula Indusara are the key strike bowlers for Nalanda, while skipper Athukorala shares the new ball duties with Thisara Dewdunu. Off spinner Caldera is their leading wicket taker after having taken 46 wickets this season. Left-arm spinners Vithanage (39 wickets) and Indusara have accounted for more than 60 wickets together.

Ananda encountered fluctuating fortunes this season. They entered the first term as an unbeaten team with two outright victories under their belt. Then followed four consecutive defeats. They suffered defeats at the hands of St. Anthony’s Katugastota (innings and 79 runs), Trinity (by seven wickets), Mahinda (by seven wickets) and Richmond (by 112 runs). That was something unprecedented. But the team led by Nethma Samaraweera have managed to overcome the setback. They concluded the season with a morale boosting victory against Dharmaraja (by nine wickets).

Ananda will rely heavily on wicketkeeper batsman Viduna Wijebandara, Iruth Gimshan and Kithma Sithmal for runs as a largely inexperienced side take the field. They are the only players to have aggregated over 400 runs among batsmen who played more than 12 matches this season. There is hope on the likes of Dinada Athalage who have shown promise during the limited opportunities he got.

In the bowling department, spinners Kithma Sithmal, Ashinsa Nainayaka, Ayesh Shashimal and Isuru Ayesh are the bowlers to watch. While Sithmal is their leading wicket taker with over 40 wickets against his name, Nainayake, Shashimal and Ayesh have accounted for over 90 wickets together.

Their pace attack is spearheaded by skipper Samaraweera and Yehan Gunasinghe.

Tally 

Ananda lead the Big Match tally 12-7. They last won in 2003 under the captaincy of D. Kularatne. Nalanda are the holders of the trophy after registering a historic victory under the captaincy of Dineth Samaraweera last year.