Annites - Nalanda clash in under-20 cricket final

Chris Dhambarage

St. Anne's College Kurunegala will be hoping to produce another giant killing performance when they take on Nalanda College in the inter school under 20 knock out limited overs cricket tournament final at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Sunday.

St. Anne's College have already created history having made it to the final for the first time and will be determined to add the finishing touches for a memorable tournament. They are certainly in a confident mood having defeated some of the more fancied teams on their way into the final.

They put up a stunning performance to beat Kingswood College Kandy by 46 runs in the quarterfinals and then had the better of St. Aloysius College Galle by 15 runs in the semifinals.

Nalanda College of course will go in as the favourites as they will be fielding a talented side with two Sri Lanka Under 19 players in their ranks. They had a setback when they lost their annual one day fixture against Ananda on a faster scoring rate but have bounced back well to be in contention for the title.

Even then the Nalandians had a tough semifinal encounter where they went through some anxious moments before overcoming D. S. Senanayake College by two wickets in an absolute thriller. Apart from this setback they were virtually unchallenged as they defeated Kalutara MV in the pre quarterfinals and Bandaranaike MMV Gampaha in the quarterfinals.