81st Battle of the Maroons
Nalanda restrict Ananda to 191
A penetrative spell of fast bowling from right-arm pacer and fresher Rangana Cooray who returned impressive figures of 17-3-54-5 helped Nalanda bundle out Ananda for a paltry 191 all out, before replying with 69 for 2 when bad light stopped play, on a level-pegging day one of the 81st Battle of the Maroons begun at SSC grounds yesterday.
Nalanda having won the toss had no hesitation in asking their rivals to take first lease of the SSC track and saw Rangana  Cooray getting into his act immediately as he priced out four of the top Ananda bastmen cheaply.
Cooray playing in his debut big match and having joined the Campbell Place school from Minuwangoda Nalanda MV troubled all the Ananda batsmen with his probing line and length bowling being equally well backed up by slick fielding.
Ananda failed to string together any decent partnerships on the day losing wickets at regular intervals and if not for a face-saving knock of 66 with eight fours and six and off 139 balls from number six bat Ruvindu Shamen they could have been in serious strife in this game.
That Ananda at least managed to reach a total of 191 was largely due to the efforts of Ruvindu Shamen who held the lower-half of their batting together with tail-ender Matheesha Rasuwan who himself weighed in with a plucky 35 spiced with five boundaries.
For Nalanda, Cooray was ably assisted by the rest of his mates with new-ball partner A Nanayakkara claiming 2 for 16 and Nipun Karunanayake grabbing 2 for 15.
Nalanda in their turn went about the chase in a safe and sedate manner but Ananda managed to claim two wickets with both openers P Wickremasinghe and C Rodrigo guilty of throwing their wickets away.
In the end one-drop bat Nipun Karunanayake managed to drop anchor and remained unbeaten on 38 made off 47 deliveries and off six fours.
As it stands now, the onus will be on Nalanda to push on this morning while amassing a comfortable lead before putting their opponents under pressure, and Ananda will look to play to their strength and eke out a draw, with a result highly unlikely given the evenly balanced nature of both teams. - (JK)
SCOREBOARD
Ananda First Innings
G Wimaladharma lbw b A Nanayakkara 00
U Nadeeranga b R Cooray 04
M Janadi ct Nanayakkara b R Cooray 00
P Madushan ct P Wick’singhe b Cooray 27
S Dewage b R Cooray 17
R Shamen ct K Dhanushka b Nanayakkara 66
M Jayarathne ct Wick’singhe b Cooray 05
T Samarakoon ct Cooray b K Dhanushka 04
M Rashuan ct and b N Karunanayake 35
U Gunathileke n o 09
S Perera ct P Wick’singhe b Nanayakkara 02
Extras (l byes - 4, no-balls -7, wides-6,
Penalty runs - 5) 22
Total all out in 71.5 overs 191
F O W 1-0, 2-01, 3-08, 4-40, 5-85, 6-99, 7-106, 8-171 9-181
Bowling: A Nanayakkara 15-1-46-2, Rangana Cooray 17-3-54-5, S Gunewardene 11-1-40-0, D Jayasinghe 9-4-12-0, N Karunanayake 11-4-15-2, K Dhanushka 6-2-12-1, S Tennekoon 3-0-3-0
Nalanda First Innings
P Wickr’singhe ct T S’koon b Jayarathne 04
C Rodrigo run out 13
Nipun Karunanayake not out 38
S Tennekoon not out 07
Extras (no Balls - 5, wides- 2) 07
Total for the loss 2 wkts 69
FOW 1-5, 2-52
Bowling: R Shamen 4-0-17-0, M Jayarathne 5-3-17-1, M Rasuwan 4-1-19-0
G Wimaladharma 1-0-6-0, P Madushan 2-0-4-0, S Perera 2-0-4-0
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