Cricket: Old Nalandians win P. de S. Kularatne Trophy

Old Nalandians in the UAE emerged victorious over their traditional rivals Anandians, at the 8th Battle of the Maroons in the UAE to clinch the P de S Kularatne Memorial Trophy at the Battle of the Maroons in the UAE.

The Old Nalandians' captain Madura Warnapura won the toss and invited Old Anandians to bat first. 

Old Anandians posted a mammoth 206 runs in their allotted 20 overs for the loss of 7 wickets. 

The star batsman for Ananda was Mahesh Perera, who entertained the crowd with a stunning display of batting scoring 75 runs in 24 balls that included 10 sixes and a boundary.

Mehesh was ably assisted by Anandian Captain Yoshan Gunasekera who scored a brisk 41 off 25 balls. 

For Nalanda, Dilan Chandaka took 3 important wickets giving away 47 runs while Viraj Dharmasiri, Asanka Buddhika and Kosala Kariyawasam took a wicket each for Nalanda.

Old Nalandians, in reply started their innings cautiously but gradually increased the tempo as Warnapura was in his best stroke play hitting the ball to all parts of the ground. 

Warnapura scored a scintillating 65 runs in just 30 balls studded with seven sixes and two fours. 

Chethan de Silva scored 64 valuable runs in 36 balls with five sixes and three fours and built the innings steadily adding 123 runs for the first wicket with Warnapura.

At the end Arunalu de Silva and Manoj scored 18 and 22 runs respectively to reach the target score of 206 runs with two overs to spare.

For Ananda , Kulith Rabel took two wickets while Aruna Alvis , Mahesh Perara took a wicket each.

Nalanda skipper Warnapura was named as the best batsman for his knock of 65 runs, with Kulith Rabel bagged the best bowler award for his 2 for 22. 

Old Anandians’ Mahesh Perera was awarded the best all-rounder for his contribution with the bat scoring 75 runs and taking a wicket.

The 8th Battle of the Maroons event in the UAE was jointly organised by Ananda College Old Boys' Association (ACOBA) UAE Wing and Nalanda College Alumni (NCA) UAE and was held at the Sharjah English School Cricket grounds.

Following the success of introducing a second XI game last year, at this year's 8th Battle of the Maroons, a Tag Rugby game was also included and played for the P de S Kularatne Challenge Shield. The second XI cricket game this year was played for the Lionel Mendis Challenge Trophy, in memory of the veteran coach Lionel Mendis.

Old Anandians 206 for 7 wickets (20) (Dinesh de Silva 16, Mahesh Perera 75, Yoshan Gunasekera 41, Isuru Jayaweera 17n.o., Dilan Chandaka 47/3)

Old Nalandians 212 for 5 wickets (18.3) (Madura Warnapura 65, Chethan de Silva 64, Arunalu de Silva 18, Manoj Niroshan 22n.o., Kulith Rabel 22/2)