Sithmal shines for Ananda as match ends in stalemate

Kithma Sithmal shone with a top knock of 90 with ten boundaries for Ananda on day two against traditional rivals Nalanda in the 93rd Battle of the Maroons, which ended in a stalemate at the SSC ground.

The outcome of the match was visible when the match ended on day one with Nalanda making 280/5, which came on the back of half-tons made by Eranga Jayakody and Kushmitha Silva and useful contributions from Chanul Athukorala and Senesh Wijesinghe, while Ananda ended the day on 65 for 1.

Ananda resuming from their overnight score saw the overnight pair Kanchana de Livera and Ashinsa Nainayake being able to add only another three runs before being separated.

Ananda underwent a setback when they lost two wickets with the score on 79, and though they accumulated runs from there on, they lost wickets at regular intervals and were badly placed at 128 for 6.

Sithmal, along with Ayesh Shashimal, came to the rescue of the side, and the pair shared a valuable partnership of 64 runs for the seventh wicket before being bowled out for 235 runs.

The match from here on was of academic interest, and Nalanda batting the second time made 121 for 5 before declaring, and Ananda set an impossible target of 177 runs and ended the day on 22 for 2