Will history repeat itself with very little to choose from?
Ananda College
Against a background of a string of drawn encounters, the 89th Battle of the Maroons Cricket encounter between arch rivals Ananda and Nalanda will be played at the SSC Grounds on March 3 (Saturday) and 4 (Sunday).
Ananda started off this season on a promising note, but failed to carry on from where they started, while on the other side, Nalanda started its season on a slow note but got their act together with every match, and are in good touch at present.
Ananda enjoyed a fair season with 3 outright wins and 5 1st-innings wins, from 14 matches, while Nalanda boasts of 5 outright victories and 6 1st-innings wins from 15 matches to date.
A tall-scoring match can be expected this year at the batsmen-friendly SSC wicket, as both sides possess strong batting line-ups with the bowlers having the unenviable task of restricting the free scoring batsmen. The Spin departments are the strong points of both schools.
Nalanda no doubt will make every effort to win, as they last tasted victory over 6 decades ago, while their rivals too, no less keen to end their victory drought since 2003.
Nalanda College
Asel Sigera, a 4th year coloursman leads Ananda, with the services of 7 coloursmen. Dushan Hettige (620 runs), Lahiru Attanayake (650 runs) Kamesh Nirmal (350 runs) and Daminda Reshan (300 runs) are the batsmen capable of taming any bowling attack, to post hefty totals. Skipper Asel Sigera, left arm orthodox, leads the bowling attack with 44 wickets, and will be supported by left arm spinner Daminda Reshan with over 30 wickets, and right arm off-spinner Gishan Vishwajith. The new ball will be shared by right arm pacemen Chamika Gunasekera and Shamal Hirushan.
Ananda skipper Asel Sigera
Nalanda will be led by all-rounder Lakshita Manasinghe, a 4th year coloursman, and will have the services of 3 coloursmen. Lakshita, an elegant left-hander, has had a good season scoring over 650 runs and capturing nearly 50 wickets with his off-spinners. Sri Lanka
Nalanda skipper Lakshitha Manasinghe
Under-19 trialist and deputy skipper Suhanga Wijewardene too, is in good touch, totaling over 600 runs, while Avishka Perera (530 runs) and all-rounder Chamindu Wijesinghe (500 runs) are the main batters to watch. The Spin department led by the skipper himself, is capable of running through any batting line-up, with left arm spinners Umeksha Dilshan (26 wickets), Kaveesh Madurapperuma (58 wickets), off-spinner Mahima Weerakoon (36 wickets), Chamindu Wijesinghe (50 wickets), and up and coming right arm leggie Ravin De Silva (41 wickets).
Both Captains Sigera and Manasinghe speaking to the Sunday Times said would strive to make this encounter a memorable one with positive cricket, and will go all out for a win.
Teams:
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