All eyes on National Junior Caps Damitha and Wanitha
The 34th ‘Battle of the Rocks’ between arch rivals Maliyadeva College Kurunegala and St. Anne’s College Kurunegala will be played at the picturesque Welagedara Stadium Kurunegala on March 17 and18, commencing at 9.30 am on both days. The match sponsored by Dialog, is jointly organised by the Old Boys Associations of Maliyadeva College and St. Anne’s College.
The 22nd 50-Over fixture sponsored by Damro, will be on Sunday, March 19, at the same venue.
This year, Maliyadeva is led by Sri Lanka Junior National Cap and dynamic all-rounder Damitha Naveen Silva with dashing top order batsman Dilshan Kollure as his deputy. Silva has proved his all-round capabilities scoring 547 runs with two fine centuries against Bandaranayake MMV Gampaha (108) and President’s College Kotte (110 n.o.) and capturing 51 wickets with 5 for 46 as his best. He has represented Sri Lanka in 5 Junior Tests and 24 Youth ODIs, where he captured 48 wickets in both formats of the game. He led North Western Province Under (U)-19 to be champions in the Sri Lanka Cricket Inter-Provincial U-19 Cricket tournament last year. Maliyadeva’s batting is their forte this season, posting totals of over 300 on 5 occasions, with 403 for 7 against St. Joseph’s College Colombo as best. Deputy skipper Kollure has also topped 508 runs this season and excelled as a fine fielder. Wicketkeeper-batsman Dulaj Ranatunga is their most prolific batsman this season, with nearly 800 runs, inclusive of two superb centuries against Ananda College (111) and St. Joseph’s College (118) as his best. Opener Dinanjaya Premarathna (560 runs) is the other centurion in the side with season’s best of 141 against Joseph’ Vaz College. All-rounder Kaveen Bandara, opener Supun Sumanarathna, newcomer Muditha Premadasa, Supun Nissanka and Vishwa Dissanayaka will bolster the batting down the order.
Maliyadeva’s bowling is spearheaded by medium pacers Manelka Dharmadasa and Dinanjaya Premarathna, with spinners, skipper Damitha Silva (51 wkts) left-arm off-spinner Kaveen Bandara (20 wkts) and left-arm leg-spinner Sanjeevan Priyadarshana (37 wkts)) could pose a real threat to their opponent’s middle order.
In all, the Devans have 5 all-rounders in their ranks making them a very formidable side this season. They played 14 matches, for 2 outright victories against Dharmapala College Pannipitiya and President’s College, lost 2 to Thurstan College and Nalanda College, while the rest were drawn. They led on 1st innings against 2 fancied teams, Ananda College and St. Joseph’s College Colombo this season. Maliyadeva has already entered the semifinals of the All-island Inter School 50-Over tournament, defeating S. Thomas’ College Mt Lavinia (pre quarterfinal) and Trinity College Kandy. (quarterfinal). Maliyadeva is coached by former Devans all-rounder Thusitha Herath.
St. Anne’s is led by Junior National Cap Wanitha Wanninayaka, with all-rounder Randeera Ranasinghe as his deputy. Wanninayaka has represented Sri Lanka U-19 in 1 Test and was also a member of the North Western Province U-19 side which won the Inter Provincial U-19 title last season. He is the most prolific batsman in the U-19 Division II tournament this season, with 827 runs inclusive of 3 centuries and 4 half-centuries, with 139 against St. Sebastian’s College as his highest. He led his side to 5 outright wins this season against Rahula College, De Mazenod College, SDeS Jayasinghe College, St Peter’s College Negombo,and St Xavier’s College Marawila. They have already qualified for the semifinals of the U-19, Division II 50-Over tournament, defeating St. John’s College Panadura in the quarterfinals. They have also qualified to play in the quarterfinals of the League tournament and aspire to be in the big league next season.
All-rounder Ranasinghe has made 441 runs with 113 as his best and also captured 24 wickets with his medium pace deliveries. Left-hand opener Vimukthi Bandara (441 runs) and Pubudu Ganegama (382 runs) are also in fine form and much is expected in the big one. Others vying for batting slots are Tharinda Wijesinghe, Sachitha Jayasekara, Dineth Chandimal and Dananjaya Bandara.
Left-arm spinner Piyumal Sinhawansa is their leading wicket taker with 55 wickets including five 5-wicket hauls this season. His best being 7/35 vs St Peter’s College Negombo. Spinner Pubudu Ganegama (48 wkts) and all-rounder Kavindu Ranasinghe (21 wkts) and Lakshitha de Silva could cause problems to their opponents. St. Anne’s have also posted totals of over 300 on 4 occasions, with 408/7 against Dehiwala Central as their best. Former Annite captain and all-rounder Chanaka Ediriweerage is their coach.
This series started in 1959 with Nissanka Cooray (Maliyadeva) and Mahinda Yatawara (St. Anne’s) as captains, and was stopped in 1965. It was revived in 1980, after lapse of 15 years. Maliyadeva leads the series with 5 wins with their last win in 2014 under Kusal De Silva. The 50-Over series stands at 11-8 in Maliyadeva’s favour, with 2 ‘No-Decision’. St. Anne’s, under Umesh Massakkara, won last year’s 50-Over match by 31 runs.
An absorbing tussle is expected this weekend as both teams are evenly matched.
Maliyadeva College
St. Anne's College