Old Anandians clinch Kularatne and Mendis Memorial Trophies in the UAE

Flags of Ananda flew high as the old Anandians in UAE were crowned as the winners of the 12th Battle of the Maroons held in the UAE recently.

After a break of two years due to the pandemic, the 12th episode of Battle of the Maroons in the UAE organised jointly by Ananda College Old Boys Association (ACOBA) UAE Wing and Nalanda College Alumni (NCA) UAE was concluded successfully at Al Dhaid Cricket Village Grounds in Sharjah UAE.

The 1st XI and 2nd XI cricket teams of Old Anandians in UAE, led by Tharindu Paththapperuma and Nipuna Amarasinghe respectively, gave a spell binding performance to clinch both P de S Kularatne and Lionel Mendis memorial trophies, securing a comfortable win against mighty old Nalandians, bagging five awards of the event.

Old Nalandians rugby team captained by Chanaka Senathilaka became the winners of the Tag Rugby 7s encounter, which was played for the P de S Kularatne Challenge Shield.

Old Anandians 2nd XI cricket team – Winners of the Lionel Mendis memorial trophy 2021

Old Anandians win P de S Kularathne memorial trophy 2021

Scores:

Old Anandians 143/9 in 20.0 overs. Nimesha Thajudeen 34, Kushan Wijewardhena 29, Tharindu Paththapperuma 16, Dilin Alwis 13 not out. : Arunalu De Silva 3 for 22, Usitha Ediriweera 2 for 26)

Old Nalandians 98/10 in 19.3 overs Asela Weerasuriya 25, Malaka Wanasinghe 19, Kavinda Gamage 17 Kushan Wijewardhena 3 for 21, Dilin Alwis 2 for 17, Achinda Witharamalage 2 for 20, Suresh Silva 1 for 13

Awards

Man of the Match – Kushan Wijewardhanaof Ananda College

Best Batsman – Nimesha Thajudeen of Ananda College

Best Bowler – Arunalu De Silva of Nalanda College

Old Anandians win Lionel Mendis Memorial Trophy 2021

Scores:

Old Nalandians 90/10 in 18.4 overs. : Sumedha Tennakoon 18, Kosala Kariyawasam 15, Dilip Samanthilake 14, Thisara Gunasekara 12. Kasun Boteju 3 for 9, Nipuna Amarasinghe 3 for 13, Kasun Wijerathne 2 for 17, Soujan Said 2 for 22

Old Anandians 91/6 in 16.4 overs Srinath Samararatne 23, Rizwan Abdeen 14, Nipuna Amarasinghe 12. Buddhika 1 for 8, Sandun Wijenayake 1 for 10, Vageesha Fernando 1 for 14)

Awards

Man of the Match – Nipuna Amarasinghe of Ananda College

Old Nalandians Rugby Team Winner of the P de S Kularatne Challenge Shield 2021

Best Batsman – Srinath Samararatne of Ananda College

Best Bowler – Kasun Boteju of Ananda College

Old Nalandians win P de S Kularatne Challenge Shield in Rugby

The last event of the day was Ananda vs Nalanda Tag Rugby 7s encounter that was played for the P de S Kularatne challenge shield with the Old Nalandians Rugby team winning the match 2-1 after a lapse of three years. Dilip Samanthilaka from Nalanda was adjudged as the player of the match.

All the players from Ananda and Nalanda were wearing black armbands during the event as a mark of respect to Sri Lankan legendary cricketer, distinguished Nalandian and Sri Lanka’s first Test cricket captain, late Bandula Warnapura, who passed away recently.

General Mahesh Senanayake, former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army graced the occasion as the Chief guest.