Fourth ‘Murali Harmony Cup’ on the road
View(s):The tournament which builds bridges of friendship that brings together young cricketers from across the island on to one field — the Murali Harmony Cup T20 cricket tournament is set to start off from October 7. The tournament which begins on October 2 is slotted to end on October 11, is scheduled to be played in five venues across northern Sri Lanka in the towns of Jaffna, Oddusuddan (Mullativu), Mankulam and Killinochchi.
The tournament will feature 16 teams in the boys’ category which is divided into four groups and eight teams in the ladies category divided into two groups. The tournament which began in 2011 in Seenigama consisted of five international teams and three local teams from Seenigama, Matale and Jaffna. It expanded to 20 teams in 2012 which had twelve in the boys’ category and eight in the ladies. Then due to its success the organisers have increased the participation of teams to 24.
The tournament a brainchild of legendary bowler Muttiah Muralidaran whose charity the Foundation of Goodness is partnered by Red Dot Tours and Sri Lanka Army in conducting the tournament. Kushil Gunasekera, Founder of Foundation of Goodness (FoG) emphasized that they were delighted to conduct the fourth edition of the Murali Harmony Cup which has made great progress over the past years towards promotion of rural cricket.
This is an exercise to develop friendship and reconciliation across the island, bringing together aspiring cricketers from the northern, southern, eastern, western and central regions. They have incredible support from FoG trustees. Supporting the cause are legends of the calibre of Muttiah Muralidaran, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena.
Added to that the team from FoG along with Red dot Tours and the Sri Lanka Army have tirelessly worked towards planning and executing, undertaking to uplift and support rural communities through the spirit of cricket for which we are grateful.
Kumar Sangakkara, Trustee of GoF along with Muttiah Muralidaran at the launch of the 4th Murali Harmony Cup cricket tournament watched by Thanveer Siddique, Head of Finance, Pyramid Winter Ltd. Ravi Dias, Director Tokyo Cement Group.
Speaking further he said the sustainability and success of the tournament has been due to generosity of corporate sponsors spearheaded by principal sponsor Lanka Graphite Ltd, co-sponsors Tokyo Cement and Fortune, associate sponsors Kia Motors, Access Engineering and Finlays, banking partners NDB and print media partners Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.
And they also extend their thanks to MAS Holdings who have provided the playing kits for all the teams free of cost for the last four years. The Ladies first round matches are 15 overs per side. There will be no Semi Finals for Ladies and the Top two Teams from the respective groups will play in the Final on Sunday (T20 game) 11 October Morning in IODR Oval at Oddusuddan (Mulativu).
St Peter’s won the first two tournaments while Ananda took the third
Shakthi Ladies Anuradhapura won in 2013 and Seenigama Ladies in 2014.