Sri Lanka Schools: 70th Battle of the Maroons (25 March 1999)
Nalanda College with only a solitary win in the current season are hoping that their senior players would click well when they take on their traditional rivals Ananda in the 70th annual Battle of the Maroons cricket encounter on March 27 and 28 at
25-Mar-1999
25 March 1999
Sri Lanka Schools: 70th Battle of the Maroons
Chris Dhambarage
Nalanda rely on seniors to deliver the goods
Nalanda College with only a solitary win in the current season are
hoping that their senior players would click well when they take on
their traditional rivals Ananda in the 70th annual Battle of the
Maroons cricket encounter on March 27 and 28 at the SSC grounds,
Maitland Place.
The Nalandians have failed to live upto expectations despite fielding
a strong team on paper. The team is captained by fourth year
coloursman Niranjan Kumara Manikkage and also includes Sri Lanka
Schools player Mevan Porage and several other senior players.
Despite having the services of several experienced players they have
failed to click well as a team and have somewhat struggled against
strong opponents. However their best effort probably came against St.
Peter's College where they almost turned defeat into a memorable
victory at the NCC grounds.
In addition the Nalandians have been forced to play most of their
home fixtures at neutral venues due to the reconstruction work at
Campbell Place. This has severely affected the team and as a result
they have failed to produce the same form which they displayed last
year.
Nevertheless they are currently placed among the top ten in the
Elephant Lemonade Cup group 'A' points table and are certain of
competing in the final round. Nalanda's strength is their bowling
where skipper Manikkage has been outstanding with a haul of 36
wickets this season. His new ball partner Buddhika Ranaweera too has
stuck to his task and has bagged 31 wickets during the season.
The spin department will be in the hands of Kelum Gangodawila, leg
spinner Sukitha Peiris, Dilhan Jayasundera and left arm spinner
Pradeep Hedigalla. In fact Jayasundera has been quite impressive with
a total of 33 wickets to his credit.
The Nalanda batting is spearheaded by opener Sukitha Peiris who is
their only centurian in the side having reached the three figure mark
in the game against Wesley. In fact Sukitha Peiris is the son of
former Nalanda skipper Shanthi Peiris who represented the school with
distinction.
Sri Lanka Schools player and vice captain Mevan Porage is another
consistent run getter having accumulated over 600 runs while fresher
Hiran Gunawardena has a total of over 500 runs to his credit.
The team:
Niranjan Kumara Manikkage (captain), Mevan Porage, Sukitha Peiris,
Kelum Gangodawila, Pradeep Hedigalla, Dilhan Jayasundera, Harein de
Mel, Kanishka Gamanayake, Buddhika Ranaweera, Chaminda Gunathilaka,
Amila Kiriella, Hiran Gunawardena, Manjula Perera, Kanishka
Bandarathilaka, Renuka Prasanna, W. Perera, R. de Silva.
Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)