Blind cricketers win and lose

CRICKET Despite a fine knock of 110 (with 21 fours) by opener Wasantha Jayawardena and a 15 boundary 95 by Chandanakumara Suriyarachchie but short by 3 runs in chase of the massive England score of 379 for three wickets giving the England team a 2-0 lead in the third 40 over match played at the MCA Grounds recently.

Batting first England made a huge 379 for 3 wickets. Rory Field notched his second successive century (153 with 17 boundaries) and Luke Sugg with 99 with 9 boundaries for magnificient 2nd wicket partnership of 246 runs. Andy Powers chipped in with 54. For Sri Lanka, Wasantha Jayawardena and Rasika de Silva put on 103 for the second wicket. Nathan Foye with 2 for 74 bowled best for England.

Close win

With a courageous all-round performance the Sri Lankan blind cricketers scored an exciting 17 run win over their England counterparts to pull back one in the third match of the limited over series played at the BOI Grounds, Katunayake. Though England won the series the Sri Lankans proved in no uncertain terms that they are on par with England.

Being put into bat Sri Lankan reached 306 for 6 wickets in their allotted 40 overs with Jayaratne striking 79 with 9 boundaries, Chandanakumara Suriyarachchie 53 with 7 boundaries (his third consecutive half century), Kumudulal Samarasinghe 40 and Wasantha Jayawardena 39 with 6 boundaries. Skipper Swanepole bagged 2 for 78 for England.

In reply England were restricted to 289 for 9 wickets in 40 overs. Rory Field (who had scored centuries in the first two matches) once again retired on 96 with 5 boundaries; Nathan Foye and Luke Sugg also contributed 28 each. Kumudulal Samarasinghe bagged 2 wickets for 40 runs.

At the end of the match, the Chief Guest Anwar Dole, Factory Director of Ceylon Electrical Plastic Industries and Peter Sugg, Manager of the England team presented souvenir trophies to both teams umpires and scorers, donated by MAS Holdings. The Diana and Co. challenge trophy was clinched by England.

Special awardsfirst match

B1 Blind - Nathan Foye

B2 Partially Blind - Rory Field

B3 Partially Sighted - Dimuthu Perera

Second Match

B1 Blind - Nathan Foye

B2 Partially Blind - Rory Field

B3 - Partially Sighted - Luke Sugg

Third Match

B1 Blind - Kumudulal Samarasinghe

B2 - Partially Blind - Rory Field

B3 Partially Sighted - Chandanakumara Suriyarachchie

After their excellent performances against the Englishmen the Sri Lankans are now embarking on an all out bid to put up a strong performance at the World Cup.