Battle of the Maroons (Colombo)
| Countries | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|
| Format | Test and One-Day |
| First edition | 1925 |
| Latest edition | 2025 |
| Next edition | 2026 |
| Number of teams |
|
| Most successful |
|
| Website | Battle of the Maroons |
| 95th Battle of the Maroons (Colombo) | |
The Battle of the Maroons (also called Big Match) is an annual cricket encounter played between Ananda College, Colombo and Nalanda College, Colombo.[1]
History
The encounter was first played in 1924 and the match is played as a three-day[2] encounter starting from this year 2025 (the 95th in the series - the match was not played in 1943, 1944, and 1945 due to World War II and in 1948) at Singhalese Sports Club grounds. Nalanda are the current holders of the Trophy having won it in 2022 under the leadership of Dineth Samaraweera.[3][4] The first Battle of the Maroons was played in 1925 and Nalandians were led by B.S. Perera[5] while N M Perera led Anandians. Nalanda won the inaugural contest. [6] Sri Lanka's first Test cricket captain, the late Bandula Warnapura, was a proud product of Nalanda College,[7][8] while Arjuna Ranatunga, who captained the Sri Lankans in the World Cup victory in 1996, was a product of Ananda College.[9] This year's 95th encounter ended in a draw.[10] Battle of the Maroons 48th one day encounter that was played this year was abandoned due to rain.[11] In 1951, Stanley Jayasinghe became the first Nalandian [12] to represent All Ceylon Cricket Team while still being a schoolboy playing against Pakistan in Pakistan [13]
Trophy
The match is contested for the Dr. N. M. Perera Memorial Trophy.[14] The one day 50 overs match is played for P de S Kularatne trophy.[15]
Results of the last Big Match in 2025
- 95th three-day match
28 March–2 April 25
|
Ananda College, Colombo
|
v
|
Nalanda College, Colombo
|
324/6 d (92.2 overs)
Dinada Athalage 131 Kenul de Zoysa 73 Punsara Rajakarauna 2/69 Osanda Pamuditha 2/80 |
325/6 d (88.4 overs)
Nadul Jayalath 111 Nemindu Akmeemana 43 Sadew Samarasinghe 40 Sharada Jayarathna 4/58 | |
27/1 (7 overs)
|
- Nalanda won the toss and elected to field
- 48th limited overs match
16 March 2025
|
Ananda College, Colombo
249 for 9 (50 overs) |
v
|
Nalanda College, Colombo
62/2 (12.2 overs) |
Kenul de Zoysa 39
Nethula Edirimanne 34 Hasith Ratnayake 4/46 Sadew Samarasinghe 2/41 |
Lithum Wijekumara 29 n.o
|
- Nalanda won the toss and elected to field.
References
- ^ "95th Battle of the Maroons Teams evenly balanced, close contest expected". dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 2025-05-15.
- ^ 95th Ananda-Nalanda Battle of the Maroons today Historic first-ever 3-day encounter
- ^ "95th Ananda-Nalanda Battle of the Maroons today". The Morning. 28 February 2025. Retrieved 2025-05-15.
- ^ Nalanda College secures Dr. N.M. Perera Challenge Trophy after 69 years
- ^ Ananda and Nalanda longing for outright win
- ^ Dr. N.M. a cricket icon of Ananda
- ^ Nalanda Vikings champs at Bandula Warnapura Memorial Trophy 2024
- ^ Old Nalandians’ Sports Club to host inaugural Bandula Warnapura Memorial Lecture
- ^ Ananda-Nalanda to battle it out at 93rd Battle of the Maroons
- ^ Ananda-Nalanda 95th ‘Battle of the Maroons’ Annual Cricket Encounter Ends in a Draw
- ^ Battle of the Maroons 48th one day encounter abandoned due to rain
- ^ Stanley Jayasinghe honoured by ONSC
- ^ Stanley Jayasinghe the nonagenarian: going strong
- ^ Nalanda out to retain Dr. N.M. Perera Trophy
- ^ Nalandians retain the P de S Kularatne Challenge Trophy as rain washout 2nd innings
External links
- Saga of a prideful legacy and brotherhood in cricket
- Chronicle of a Proud Heritage and Fraternity
- Dinada gifts Ananda a century on b’day
- School Big Matches to be played for three days
- Ananda-Nalanda iconic cricketers herald Battle of the Maroons
- President joins ’’Battle of the Maroons’’