Fair and Lovely Men MCA ‘B’ Division 50-over competition commences in wet conditions

The third Fair and Lovely Men MCA ‘B’ Division 50-over League Tournament got off to an inauspicious start last weekend as poor weather conditions interrupted play.

As the weather was clear on Saturday (5 October), the tournament opener between Asia Asset Finance, who were playing in this division for the first time, and sponsor Unilever Sri Lanka was played to a finish.

In a low-scoring game Dinuk Hettiarachchi stole the spotlight by securing a double (42 runs and figures of 7-1-26-5) for Asia Asset Finance, as they beat Unilever by 25 runs. 

On Sunday, the weather continued to behave, but only until lunch. 

The match between Pyramid Wilmer and Citizens Development Business (CDB) at the MCA and the fixture between MAS Silueta and Singer Sri Lanka at De Soysa Park, Moratuwa were abandoned due to bad light and rain. 

MAS Silueta enjoyed the sunshine while it lasted by hammering Singer Sri Lanka’s poor bowling to the tune of 306 for 7 in 50 overs, riding on two half centuries scored by Denuwan Rajakaruna (65 not out) and Dushan Hemantha (55) 

It was most unfortunate that the most interesting match of the weekend between Pyramid Wilmer and CDB did not go the distance. Batting first, Pyramid Wilmer put up a challenging total of 226 for 9 in 50 overs, with Milantha Peiris top-scoring with a stylish 72 runs. CDB was 19 for 1 in 4.4 overs when play was stopped.

Opening weekend’s match results 

At Army, Dombagoda – Asia Asset Finance beat Unilever by 25 runs

AAF – 102 (41.5) (Dinuk Hettiarachchi 42, H. Rajendren 3/18 M. Amarasinghe 2/22)

Unilever – 77 (20.1) (H. Rajendren 15, Dinuk Hettiarachchi 5/26)

At MCA – Pyramid Wilmer vs. CDB – No result; Pyramid Wilmer – 226/9 (50) 

CDB – 19/1 (4.4)

At Moratuwa – MAS Silueta vs. Singer – No result; 

MAS Silueta – 306/7 (50) 

Singer did not bat. 

The tournament will continue tomorrow and during the coming weekend, with a card of six matches set to be played.