The 91st Battle of the Maroons between Ananda College and Nalanda College will be worked off at the SSC grounds, Colombo on the 7th and 8th of March.
Two of the most prestigious schools in the island which have produced the highest number of cricketers for the Sri Lanka national team (32 Test caps), will battle it out for glory to rewrite the history books at the dawn of the new decade.
History
Anandians have had the major honours in the history of the Battle of the Maroons but most of the battles have been concluded as no results.
| Won by | No. of Matches |
| Ananda College | 12 |
| Nalanda College | 6 |
| Drawn | 72 |
History – The Battle of the Maroons
Ananda last won under the leadership of Daminda Kularathna in 2003 while Nalanda College recorded their last win way back in 1953 under the leadership of W.W. Silva.
Last year the Ananda-Nalanda encounter was concluded as a draw with the Nalandians securing the 1st innings win in the contest.
Ananda College
2019/20 Season
The Kanishka Ranthilakage led Ananda College outfit didn’t have a great season this year as they lost 4 out of their 17 matches while winning first innings points in 7 draws.
Results list
| Opponent | Result |
| Dharmaraja College | First Innings loss |
| St. Sebastian’s College | First Innings win |
| Trinity College | Outright loss |
| Richmond College | First Innings loss |
| Royal College | Outright loss |
| S. Thomas College | Outright loss |
| St. Peter’s College | First Innings win |
| St. Thomas’ College | First Innings loss |
| St. Anthony’s College, Katugasthota | First Innings win |
| Dharmasoka College | First Innings win |
| Lumbini College | First Innings loss |
| Mahinda College | First Innings win |
| Joseph Vaz College | First Innings win |
| Wesley College | No Result |
| Zahira College | First Innings loss |
| Maliyadeva College | First Innings loss |
| St. Joseph’s College | Outright loss |
Key Players
Skipper Ranthilakage has been the star with the bat for Ananda College as he has topped the batting charts with 574 runs this season including 3 half centuries. Janindu Jayawardene is the only other batsman to achieve the 500-run mark this season.
Wrist spinner Isuru Ayesh can be considered as the trump card in the Ananda line up as he has dominated the wickets column with 54 scalps in 16 matches while Saviru Bandara and Deneth Nissanka have also put on impressive performances.
Probable XI
Anuja Jayaweera, Kanishka Ranthilakage (C), Nethma Karunaratne, Kalana Wijesiri, Hansaja Jayasinghe, Adeesha Perera, Janindu Jayawardene, Saviru Bandara, Mineth Premaratne, Isuru Ayesh, Dinesh Nissanka
Nalanda College
2019/20 Season
Under the leadership of Avishka Perera, the Nalandians have been exceptional throughout the 2019/20 School Cricket season, with a record of 4 outright wins while being unbeaten for 16 matches including 11 first innings wins (out of the 12 draws).
Video – Anandian, Kanishka Ranthilakage’s fighting innings
Results list
| Opponent | Result |
| Maliyadeva College | First Innings win |
| Dharmaraja College | First Innings win |
| Mahanama College | First Innings win |
| S. Thomas’ College | First Innings win |
| Trintiy College | Outright win |
| Devapathiraja College | First Innings win |
| Gurukula College | Outright win |
| St. Servatius College | First Innings win |
| St. Sebastian’s College | First Innings win |
| Mahinda College | First Innings win |
| Dharmasoka College | Outright win |
| Dharmapala College | First Innings win |
| St. Anthony’s College, Katugasthota | First Innings win |
| St. Peter’s College | First Innings loss |
| Thurstan College | First Innings win |
| St. Sylvester’s College | Outright win |
Key Players
One of the few players to achieve the rare feat of 1000 runs this season, Nalandian skipper Avishka Perera has been a revelation to watch with his aggressive stroke play and ability to produce big innings. He managed to write his name in the folklore of the Battle of the Maroons with a century in the 90th encounter and will be raring to go with the added responsibility of being the captain.
Photos : Ananda-Nalanda Battle of the Maroons Press Conference 2020
Nalanda boasts a brigade of quality bowlers in the likes of Chamodya Rajapaksha and Dinesh Samaraweera while they have enough power in the all-rounder’s category as well. Raveen de Silva has served Nalanda well this season with the bat and ball while Chamindu Wijesinghe represented the Sri Lanka U19s in the recently concluded Youth World Cup in South Africa.
Probable XI
Avishka Perera (C), Ranindu de Silva, Rashan Dissanayake, Chamindu Wijesinghe, Raveen de Silva, Mahima Weerakoon, Moksha Sankalpa, Lakshan Mayadunee/Thamindu Kamalasooriya, Jitesh Wasala, Chamodya Rajapaksha, Dineth Samaraweera
Considering the performance of the 2019/20 season, Nalandians undoubtably have the clear advantage in terms of recent form as most of their players have peaked at the end of the season and are firing from cylinders. But Ananda College do possess the quality to challenge the strong Nalanda line-up.
Highlights – Ananda College vs Nalanda College | 90th Battle of the Maroons
Watch the 91st Battle of the Maroons live on ThePapare.com, Dialog TV and MyTV from 9.00am onwards on the 7th and 8th of March.
