92nd Battle of the Maroons 2022 Powered by Dialog
July 8, 2022 Colombo
Photographed (L-R) Nethma Karunaratne – Captain Ananda College, Bimal Wijayasinghe – Joint Committee Chairman “ Battle of the Maroons “ - Ananda College, Lal Dissanayake – Principal Ananda College, Pradeep De Almeida - Group Chief Technology Officer, Dialog Axiata PLC, Thilak Waththuhewa - Principal, Nalanda College, Varuna Ratnaweera- Joint Committee Chairman "Battle of the Maroons " – Nalanda College, Dineth Shehan Samaraweera – Captain Nalanda College.
Sri Lanka’s premier Buddhist boys schools, Ananda College will take on arch rivals Nalanda College in their annual cricket encounter, ‘The Battle of the Maroons’ played for the late Dr. N M Perera Memorial Challenge Trophy. The Maroons encounter will once again be powered by premier connectivity provider, Dialog Axiata, will be played on the 10th and 11th July 2022, at the Sinhalese Sports Club Colombo.
Due to the prevailing adverse situation in the country, the Joint Match Organising Committee of the Battle of the Maroons under the guidance of the heads of the two schools have decided to play the 92nd edition of the big match without spectator participation.
The 92nd Battle of the Maroons cricket encounter will be broadcast LIVE on Dialog Television channel number 140, and will also be available via LIVE stream on the ThePapare.com and the Dialog ViU app.
Further, the two teams and match officials will be following all COVID-19 protocol and health and safety guidelines as the safety of the school boys will be of paramount importance.
In this year’s battle, the Ananda College first XI will be led Left hand Batsman Nethma Karunaratne, while the Nalandians will be led by paceman Dineth Shehan Samaraweera.
The two schools who have a history of producing some of Sri Lanka’s best cricketers such as skipper of the 1996 World Cup winning side, Arjuna Ranatunga (Ananda College) and Sri Lanka’s first Test Cricket captain, the late Bandula Warnapura (Nalanda College).
At present Ananda leads this match series with 12 wins, while Nalanda has 06 matches under its belt. Ananda having won the Maroons Battle in 2003, the Dr. N M Perera Memorial Challenge Trophy lies amongst the silverware at the principal’s office at Ananda College.
Dialog Axiata is the proud sponsor of the Sri Lanka National Cricket, Volleyball, Netball and Esports teams. The Company also has a close association with the President’s Gold Cup Volleyball, National Junior and Senior Netball tourneys, Schools Rugby, Premier Football and Paralympic sports by powering the Army Para Games, National Para Games and the Sri Lankan contingent to the World Paralympic Games.
