The match was played only on one end (North) of the pitch after the Southern end had again cracked up and proved dangerous for play after five overs. Reduced to a 43-overs-a-side match, St. Sebastian's batting first scored 192 for 9 off their allotted number of overs. The Cambrians in turn reached 154 for 8 in 39 overs when rain, bad light and an invasion of the ground by spectators forced the game to come to a premature end. The Sebastianites claimed they had won the match on a faster run rate, while the Cambrians claimed it was a no-result. No responsible person was available to decide on the fate of the match.
* Experienced Royal, with not less than eight coloursmen, are out to give S.Thomas a tough time at the 119th annual Battle of the Blues cricket encounter which starts at the SSC grounds, Maitland Place on Thursday.
Apart from three freshers - opener Ravi Peiris, left-arm leggie Danushka Perera and Angelo Perera, all other players in the Royal side are experienced campaigners and are determined to make their presence felt in the big'un. Leading the Reid Avenue boys this season is middle order batsman Shanaya Perera, a versatile sportsman who has also excelled in rugby football as a scrum half. Of the 118 matches played in the series, Royal lead with 32 wins. Royal had the distinction of registering two successive wins in 1990 under Udaya Lakmal Wijesena and in 1991 under Rohan Iriyagolle. Royalist Sumithra Warnakulasuriya is the highest individual scorer for either side in the series with his marathon knock of 197 made in 1980.
Air Force win by 144 runs
Air Force beat Matugama CC by 144 runs in their Division one Segment 'B' cricket match conducted at Katunayake on Sunday.
Chief scores:
Air Force 252 in 82 overs (Migara Perera 39, Sandun Lugoda 54, A. Rizan 41 n.o., Ajit Kumara 28, A. Kulatilleke 4 for 60, D. Sanjeeva 2 for 39) and 246 for 9 dec in 42 overs (Migara Perera 47, Indika Dilhan 39, Wasantha Karunaratne 22, S. Amarasinghe 22, A. Kumara 19, A. Kumara 4 for 75, W. Liyanage 2 for 60).
Matugama CC 166 in 67 overs (A. Kumara 21, J. Jayasundera 28, A .Kulatilleke 36 n.o., A. Maddumage 45, Sandun Lugoda 3 for 24, Tilak Fernando 3 for 42, A. Rizan 3 for 43) and 188 in 50 overs (A. Kumara 68, R. Gunasekera 38 n.o., L. Sanjeeva 22, Tilak Fernando 5 for 60, Nalin Jayatillake 3 for 44).
Thilina-president of KDCA
Thilina Tennekoon, a former left arm fast bowler from Dharmaraja and national poolist was elected President of the Kandy District Cricket Association at the annual general meeting held on Sunday.
Another former cricketer-wicket keeper Harold Ranasinghe who is also a level two coach and umpire was elected Secretary.
Asgiriya Stadium not available for limited over Big Matches
by S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy South Group Corr.
Asgiriya Cricket Stadium will not be available for the three schools limited over Big Matches to be played later this month and this has put the schools concerned in a quandry as they will have to find alternate grounds to play these traditional matches which are also crowd pullers.
The Trinity College authorities who are the owners of the Asgiriya Stadium have decided on this move which came as a surprise to many schools. But the Trinity - St. Anthony's limited over cricket match will be played this Saturday (March 21) at the Asgiriya Stadium. Thus the limited over matches which will not be played at this venue are Dharmaraja - Kingswood (March 22), St. Sylvesters - Vidyartha (April 3) and Sri Sumangala College - Sri Rahula (April 4).
A spokesman for Trinity College and Asgiriya Stadium said that the Asgiriya grounds is not available as it will be required for various College activities such as junior school sports meet and practices connected with it. Further the Asgiriya grounds has been a hive of activity that there is no time to prepare the wickets. It is worth recalling here that the Trinity College senior school sports meet was concluded on March 11.
The Principal of Dharmaraja College Mr. W. M. Bandaranaike expressed disappointment at the Asgiriya Stadium being not available. He said that the limited over matches attracts large crowds and since big hitting will be the order of the day, a bigger ground will be helpful. He also said that they make available the ground facilities at Lake View on a free of charge basis in order to help other schools, even if the ground was required by Dharmaraja College in the days which followed. Citing an example he said recently another small school had approached him for the grounds to play a two day cricket match. Even though the College sports meet was around the corner, he had ordered that the grounds be given free of charge and the track marking be carried out after close of play. Even when the C.T.B. wanted the grounds for a three day sports meet it was given free of charge he concluded.
With the Asgiriya grounds being not available for the limited over big matches, it is likely that the schools concerned may have to play these matches at the Police grounds.