41st edition of the “Battle of the rocks” annual cricket encounter which is played between 2 leading cricket playing schools in North Western Province (Maliyadeva College and St. Annes College) will be staged back on 28th March and 29 th March followed by the 29th limited over encounter on 30th March at picturesque Welagedara Stadium, Kurunegala.
The first edition was played way back in 1959 and so far the team Maliyadeva has managed to clinch the trophy for 6 times while all the other battles ended in a draw. The last victory of Maliyadeva came in 2022 under the captaincy of Matheesha Weerasinghe.
All rounder Chandupa Abeysinghe will lead the formidable Maliyadeva lineup while specialist batsmen Buddhima Nandasiri will lead the counterpart St. Anne’s College.
Maliyadeva College Team Preview
The pickup batsmen for the Maliyadeva team is their skipper Chadupa Abeysinghe with over 500 runs. Chandupa is a reliable left arm batter who can absorb the pressure in the tense situations of a game and who can deliver a long inning.
The Vice captain of the team is the left arm orthodox spinner Dimath Abeysinghe. Dimath is the leading wicket taker for devans in the season, same as he did in the previous seasons. He managed to get 55 wickets and his best performance came against the strong Richmond College batting line up with 07 wickets.
Dimantha Arusha is the most successful all rounder of the side who has scored 478 runs and 27 wickets. Another Key player of the side is Rajith Navodya who have represented the Sri Lankan u-17 side against touring bangladesh u-17 side. The wicket-keeping batsman has scored 411 runs being the second highest run scorer.
Apart from them Sandeepa Bandara (356 runs), Pahasara bandara (307 runs) and power hitter Vinuka Galappaththi (234 runs) made notable contributions. Vinuka guided Maliyadeva six a side cricket team to the Joint championship of 23rd Col. Henry Steel Olcott Memorial Cricket Tournament in the last year.
Hard working right arm off spinner Thaveesha Balasooriya is the second highest wicket taker for the Devans with 33 wickets. The best performance of Thaveesha came when he demolished the formidable D.S Senanayake batting lineup with six wickets.
St. Anne’s College Team Preview
The promising player of the Annites side is right arm pace bowler Geethika De Silva who was a part of Sri Lanka under 19 cricket team in the recent U-19 Cricket World Cup. Geethika is renowned for his pace and variations which will be a headache to Maliyadeva batsmen throughout this weekend.
The leading run scorer for Annites in the season is the Vice captain and right handed batter Chamith Sesanjana (552 runs). The wicket-keeping batter Kushan Subasinghe is the second highest scorer with 545 runs.
The captain and top order batter Buddhima Nandasiri is the next successful batsman of the side who has scored 481 runs including the only century scored by an Annite in the season (146 runs vs De Mazenod College).
Other highlighted batsmans for the College are Wageesha Ranasinghe (429 runs), Sanuja Dissanayake (418), Oshadha Kodikara (359) Yashmin Jayasundara (302 runs) and Dinuga Abeysekara (291 runs).
Left arm spin bowler Shehan Kumara is the leading wicket taker in the side with 65 wickets. His best performance came against De Mazenod College with 6 wickets.
Among others leading wicket takers are left arm orthodox bowler Kevin Nanayakkara (44 wickets), right arm off spinner Yashmin Jayasundara (34 wickets) and Bhasheer Shakeel (21 wickets).
In this season St. Anne’s College enjoyed one of their best seasons by qualifying to quarter finals in both test and limited overs formats in Division 1 Tier B. The counterpart Maliyadeva College battled in the elite level of school cricket, Division 1 Tier A and failed to advance in both formats.
Hence Annites have a slight edge over Maliyadeva in this big match and the motto of Annites will be “Now or Never” as they are still in search of their first title.
Maliyadeva Squad
Chandupa Abeysinghe (Captain), Dimath Abeysinghe (Vice captain), Rajith navodya, Vinuka Galappaththi, Thaveesha Balasooriya, Thiwanka Pabasara, Sandeepa Bandara, Pahasara bandara, Dimantha Arusha, Olitha Neranjan, Damlath Gamage, Sadew Hewawitharana, Dineth Amarasinghe, Sonal Ashwin, Gagana Pathiraja, Pivithuru Silva, Chenula hemachandra, Ganindu Kandawala, Nethra Nirmala, Aken Amarajeewa
St. Anne’s Squad
Buddhima Nandasiri(Captain), Chamith Sesanjana (Vice captain), Geethika De Silva, Wageesha Ranasinghe, Sanuja Dissanayake, Oshadha Kodikara, Yashmin Jayasundara, Dinuga Abeysekara, Shehan Kumara, Kevin Nanayakkara, Bhasheer Shakeel, Kushan Subhasinghe, Mahisha Bandara, Dhihan Munasinghe, Jithsara Dissanayake, Nadeeka Lokuwella, Manuja Wijeratne, Navindu Rathnayake, Cheniyel Dimoor, Sanuka Kemsara, Ashinsha Dissanayake
