Rain curtails Merc cricket
Rain played havoc with the Pre-Quarter Finals of the 13th David Pieris Group of Companies sponsored ‘DPGC’ Challenge Trophy, MCA Division ‘E’ 30-over League Tournament.
Out of the eight pre-quarter finals simultaneously played on last Saturday at four venues, six were washed out without a ball being bowled. The two matches that escaped were played with reduced overs.
The eight teams that advanced to the quarter finals were: EWIS (Unbeaten), Citizens Development Bank (Unbeaten), Unilever, Amana Takaful Insurance, Emerchemie NB (Unbeaten), Eagle Logistics, Union Assurance (Unbeaten) and Pizza Hut (Unbeaten). The six unlucky teams that went home without facing a single ball were MAS Silueta, Regnis Lanka, LOLC, Interpharm, Commercial Bank ‘B’ and John Keells ‘C’.
Of the rain washed off matches Citizens Development Bank, Unilevers, Amana Takaful Insurance, Eagle Logistics, Union Assurance and Pizza Hut qualified for the quarter-finals by virtue of holding higher positions in the top 16.
The quarter-finals will be worked off this weekend at the MCA and Thurstan College grounds. Ewis and CDB will take on each other at the MCA in the morning which will be followed by the game between Unilever and Amana Takaful Insurance in the afternoon. At Thurstan ground Emerchamie NB will take on Eagle Logistics in the morning before the game between Union Assurance and Pizza Hut in the afternoon. The semi-finals will be played on May 23 and the final is scheduled for May 30.
Pre-quarter-final results:
MCA/morning: (1st PQF) EWIS beat Mast Far East by 67 runs (match reduced to 22 overs a side, due to wet ground conditions); EWIS 177/3 (22); MFE 110 all out (16.3)
MCA/afternoon: (2nd PQ) Citizens Dev. Bank vs MAS Silueta was abandoned without a ball being bowled
Kotahena/morning: (3rd PQF) Unilever vs Brandix was abandoned without a ball being bowled Kotahena/afternoon: (4th PQF) Amana Takaful Insurance vs Regnis Lanka was abandoned without a ball being bowled
Mattegoda/morning: (5th PQF) Emerchemie NB beat LOLC by 7 runs (match reduced to 10 overs a side due to wet ground conditions) Emerchemie NB 115/6 (10): LOLC 108/7 (10)
Mattegoda/afternoon: (6th PQF) Eagle Logistics vs Interpharm was abandoned without a ball being bowled
Campbell Park/morning: (7th PQF) Union Assurance PLC vs Commercial Bank ‘B’ was abandoned without a ball being bowled
Campbell Park/afternoon: (8th PQF) Pizza Hut vs John Keells ‘C’ was abandoned without a ball being bowled
‘F’ Division
In a weekend that was severely hampered by rain, opening batsman, M.K. Rathnajeewa carried his bat out, hitting a belligerent century (112 not out in 74 balls, inclusive of 7 sixes and 7 fours) for South Asia Gateway Terminal, to hand them over a fine 69 runs win over Coats Thread Lanka, in the ongoing MCA Division ‘F’ 25-over League Tournament, continued last weekend. Out of a card of 16 matches, seven got completely washed out; six were played with curtailed overs, while only three went the full distance. The tournament will be continued this week-end with a card of 18 matches.
Weekend’s Highlights
Highest Team Total: 265 for 9 in 25 overs by Heshan Flexe vs Elastomeric
The rest of the batting honours went to Sudath Sanjeewa from Akbar Brothers (87 not out vs Nippon Paint), Dulanga Lakmal from HSBC ‘C’ (80 vs Bharti Airtel), Adeesha Nanayakkara from Vallibal Finance (73 not out vs Cautaulds Clothing), Kanishka Perera from Heshan Flexe (68 vs Elastomeric), Heshan de Silva from Nippon Paint (62 vs Akbar Bros), R. Urendran from Akbar Bros (61 vs Nippon Paint), Nalinda Ranatunga from Cautaulds Clothing (61 vs Vallibal Finance), Buddhika Prasad from Heshan Flexe (60 vs Elastomeric), B. Marikkar from HSBC ‘C’ (56 vs Bharti Airtel), W.A.D.C. Perera from Nation Lanka Finance (53 not out vs Asiri Hospitals) and Dilshan Perumal from MAC Holdings (50 vs Oral Corp).
Weekend’s Match Results:
De Mazenod/morning: Akbar Bros beat QP employment by 6 wickets (match reduced to 19 overs-a-side)
QPE 139/9 (19); Akbar Bros 140/4 (18.1)
Shalika/afternoon: Amana Bank beat Ceyline Holdings by 9 wickets (match reduced to 10 overs-a-side)
Ceyline 57/8 (10), Amana 58/1(4.5)
Mattegoda/morning: MAC Holdings beat Oral Corporation by 3 wickets (match reduced to 16 overs-a-side)
Oral Corp 116/8 (16); MAC Holdings 117/7 (15.5)
Mattegoda/afternoon: South Asia Gateway Terminal beat Coats Thread Lanka by 69 runs SAGT 183/6 (25); Coats 114 all out (18.1)
Wesley/morning: Nation Lanka Finance beat Asiri Hospitals by 10 wickets (match reduced to 12 overs-a-side)
Asiri 84/7 (12); NLF 90 for no loss (7.3)
Wesley/afternoon: Vallibal Finance beat Cautaulds Clothing by 5 wickets (match reduced to 20 overs-a-side)
Coutaulds 172/5 (20); Vallibal 173/5 (19)
Nalanda/afternoon: Akbar Bros beat Nippon Paint by 65 runs (match reduced to 18 overs-a-side)
Akbar Bros 200/2 (18); Nippon Paint 135/9 (18)
Moratuwa/morning: Heshan Flexe beat Elastomeric by 196 runs
Heshan Flexe 265/9 (25); Elastomeric 69 all out (13.5)
Moratuwa/afternoon: HSBC ‘C’ beat Bharti Airtel by 65 runs
HSBC ‘C’ 219/9 (25); Airtel 154 all out (22.3)