Raveen de Silva and Rashan Dissanayake’s unbeaten 159 partnership propelled Nalanda College to a dominant place as they are now in a comfortable position in the 91st Battle of the Maroons between Ananda College and Nalanda College, which commenced today at the SSC Ground, Colombo.
After winning the toss, Ananda skipper Kanishka Ranthilakage asked Nalanda College to bat first at the SSC ground to take advantage of the early swing presented in the 1st session at SSC, but the plan backfired for Ananda as they had to witness a superb batting display from their arch rivals.
Can the Maroons rewrite history? – Preview – 91st Battle of the Maroons
Openers skipper Avishka Perera and Ranindu de Silva could not last long at the middle as they tried to be adventurous with the bat attempting rapid runs, but had to the price. However next in, Sri Lanka U19 cap Chamindu Wijesinghe, set the example for the next batters, stroking a masterful half-century including 5 fours and 2 sixes.
He departed for 56 trying to hook one out of the park and finding the fielder at deep square leg off Deneth Nissanka’s bowling. After that dismissal, the baton was passed to another national cap Raveen de Silva, who came all guns blazing to demolish the Anandian attack with boundaries all around the ground.
Photos : Ananda College vs Nalanda College | Battle of the Maroons | Day 1
Silva attacked from the word go to pile up a memorable century; his 2nd of the 2019/20 season in just 81 balls (11-4s & 4-6s) and upped the run rate of Nalanda College innings, showing the intent to go for a win after 67 years in the Battle of the Maroons. 
The centurion was well backed up by Rashan Dissanayake who mustered up a 77 of his own, accompanying a brilliant partnership of 159 runs for the 5th wicket. This partnership lifted Nalanda innings to 307; their highest in this season 2019/20.
In reply, Ananda College slipped straight into a hole, losing their openers in quick succession thanks to the brilliant swing bowling by Dineth Samaraweera and Jithesh Wasala, and lost 3 more wickets before the end of the play.
Live – Ananda College vs Nalanda College – 91st Battle of the Maroons
Jithesh Wasala was the chief destroyer of the Ananda innings with 3 scalps to his name, with the assistance of Samaraweera and Mahima Weerakoon who shared 1 wicket apiece. Ananda College currently trail by 228 runs with 5 wickets in hand in the first innings, and the saviors at the crease, Nethma Karunaratne and Janindu Jayawardene, will have a tough task on their hands to rescue Ananda College from a difficult situation.
Stay logged on to ThePapare.com for LIVE coverage, Photos & latest updates of the 91st Battle of the Maroons. Live action of day 2 can also be viewed on Channel Number 01 on Dialog TV, My TV and ThePapare.com.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avishka Perera | c Hansaja Jayasinghe b Shashika Umayanga | 26 | 33 | 4 | 0 | 78.79 |
| Ranindu de Silva | c Deneth Pramoditha Nissanka b J Jayawardene | 28 | 59 | 3 | 0 | 47.46 |
| Chamindu Wijesinghe | c Shashika Umayanga b Deneth Pramoditha Nissanka | 56 | 71 | 5 | 2 | 78.87 |
| Raveen De Silva | not out | 100 | 81 | 11 | 4 | 123.46 |
| Moksha Sankalpa | c Mineth Premarathna b Deneth Pramoditha Nissanka | 5 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 41.67 |
| Rashan Dissanayanake | not out | 77 | 75 | 12 | 0 | 102.67 |
| Extras | 15 (b 1 , lb 4 , nb 2, w 8, pen 0) |
| Total | 307/4 (54.5 Overs, RR: 5.6) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-52 (10.4) Avishka Perera, 2-89 (21.6) Ranindu de Silva, 3-143 (31.6) Chamindu Wijesinghe, 4-148 (33.6) Moksha Sankalpa, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deneth Pramoditha Nissanka | 10 | 2 | 34 | 2 | 3.40 | |
| Dasun Tharaka | 12 | 0 | 75 | 0 | 6.25 | |
| Shashika Umayanga | 13 | 1 | 77 | 1 | 5.92 | |
| J Jayawardene | 12 | 1 | 77 | 1 | 6.42 | |
| Saviru Bandara | 7.5 | 2 | 40 | 0 | 5.33 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anuda Jayaweera | b Jithesh Wasala | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 130.00 |
| Kanishka Rantilakage | c Ranindu de Silva b Jithesh Wasala | 11 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 137.50 |
| Kalana Wijesiri | c Ranindu de Silva b Jithesh Wasala | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 27.27 |
| Nethma Karunaratne | lbw b Raveen De Silva | 59 | 132 | 9 | 0 | 44.70 |
| Shashika Umayanga | c Avishka Perera b Jithesh Wasala | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Hansaja Jayasinghe | b Mahima Weerakoon | 26 | 55 | 4 | 0 | 47.27 |
| Janindu Jayaweera | c Moksha Sankalpa b Anudha Jithwara | 7 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 14.58 |
| Dasun Tharaka | c Ranindu de Silva b Jithesh Wasala | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 18.18 |
| Saviru Bandara | not out | 13 | 27 | 2 | 0 | 48.15 |
| Mineth Premarathna | lbw b Raveen De Silva | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Deneth Pramoditha Nissanka | c Chamindu Wijesinghe b Jithesh Wasala | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 10 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 10, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 150/10 (51 Overs, RR: 2.94) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-21 (2.3) Kanishka Rantilakage, 2-27 (3.2) Anuda Jayaweera, 3-34 (7.1) Kalana Wijesiri, 4-34 (7.6) Shashika Umayanga, 5-67 (23.3) Hansaja Jayasinghe, 6-100 (37.3) Janindu Jayaweera, 7-113 (42.2) Dasun Tharaka, 8-0 (47.5) Nethma Karunaratne, 9-143 (49.6) Mineth Premarathna, 10-150 (50.6) Deneth Pramoditha Nissanka, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dineth Samaraweera | 15 | 4 | 43 | 1 | 2.87 | |
| Jithesh Wasala | 17 | 4 | 63 | 5 | 3.71 | |
| Ranindu de Silva | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.50 | |
| Raveen De Silva | 7 | 1 | 28 | 2 | 4.00 | |
| Mahima Weerakoon | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2.00 | |
| Chamodya Rajapaksha | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1.00 | |
| Anudha Jithwara | 5 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1.40 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kanishka Rantilakage | c Rashan Dissanayanake b Anudha Jithwara | 37 | 68 | 7 | 0 | 54.41 |
| Anuda Jayaweera | c Ranindu de Silva b Jithesh Wasala | 6 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 30.00 |
| Nethma Karunaratne | c Moksha Sankalpa b Raveen De Silva | 20 | 53 | 2 | 0 | 37.74 |
| Mineth Premarathna | b Raveen De Silva | 6 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 35.29 |
| Hansaja Jayasinghe | not out | 89 | 135 | 11 | 1 | 65.93 |
| Dasun Tharaka | c Vihanga Vimanga b Ranindu de Silva | 29 | 82 | 4 | 0 | 35.37 |
| Janindu Jayaweera | c Mahima Weerakoon b Avishka Perera | 7 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 21.21 |
| Kalana Wijesiri | c Chamindu Wijesinghe b Avishka Perera | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Saviru Bandara | not out | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 62.50 |
| Extras | 26 (b 12 , lb 9 , nb 4, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 225/7 (69 Overs, RR: 3.26) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-15 (7.1) Anuda Jayaweera, 2-65 (22.6) Nethma Karunaratne, 3-66 (23.1) Kanishka Rantilakage, 4-76 (28.3) Mineth Premarathna, 5-187 (57.3) Dasun Tharaka, 6-209 (64.6) Janindu Jayaweera, 7-217 (66.5) Kalana Wijesiri, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jithesh Wasala | 10 | 2 | 29 | 1 | 2.90 | |
| Dineth Samaraweera | 8 | 2 | 22 | 0 | 2.75 | |
| Anudha Jithwara | 8 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 1.75 | |
| Mahima Weerakoon | 8 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 3.50 | |
| Chamodya Rajapaksha | 8 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 1.75 | |
| Raveen De Silva | 18 | 2 | 65 | 2 | 3.61 | |
| Ranindu de Silva | 6 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 2.67 | |
| Avishka Perera | 3 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 5.33 | |
