HIGHLIGHT of the cricket section's centenary celebrations will be a Cricket Masters event to be played during the week of 22-28 November 2004 and culminating in the Centenary Ball on 27th November 2004. Twelve former test and ODI internationals from Sri Lanka and India will participate in a week long festival of cricket at KCC. The KCC Centenary Masters PLAYERS from INDIA
PLAYERS from Sri Lanka
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Masters Schedule
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Match Reports KCC Centenary Master – Masters XI vs. KCC XI - 23rd November 2004 The first match of the Masters series was played on the 23rd November on a warm and humid day. What was initially billed as a 50 over game was eventually reduced to 40 overs. This was mainly due to the fact that the Masters and the KCC XI enjoyed a late and delicious breakfast. The Masters, made up of a mixture of ex-Sri Lankan and India International players, were lead by former Sri Lankan Captain, Hashan Thilakratne who won the toss and, without hesitation, elected to bat on a very "sporty" wicket. The Masters opened their innings with Sidath Wettimuny and Amal Silva, who did not last long and was caught behind by Manoj of the bowling of Afzaal for 3. Score at this stage was 24 for 1. Next in was Sameer Dinge who shared a partnership of 35 with Wettimuny before the latter was out for 41. With the score on 83 for 3, after 18 overs, we thought we had them on the run. But Previn Amre and Robin Singh had other ideas putting on 99 runs in 11 overs. Amre used his bat like a surgical instrument and carved up the bowling with the skill of a surgeon. Singh, meanwhile, clubbed his way to a very entertaining 108 not out at the end of the 40 overs. Amre was well caught by Lamsan of Yarman Vachha for 70. Afzaal Haider bowled very well ending with figures of 1 for 17 off 8 overs and the Masters XI compiled a formidable score of 292 for 5 in their 40 overs. KCC's turn to bat started disastrously. Ravi was out first ball chasing what can only be described as a double wide! Roy Lamsam did not last long and was out for 1. Score at this stage 13 for 2. Manoj, who opened the batting, (making 64) combined with TR for a 3rd wicket stand of 77 which provided us some encouragement of chasing the massive score of 292 set by the Masters. Once TR fell for 33, with the score on 90, Gohar Ali came in and took the bowling apart scoring a very quick fire 44. Despite a late rally by Afzaal (64 not out) including 26 of the last over of the match, KCC ended short of the target with a score of 243 for 9. Interestingly, Dinge, the former Indian International wicket keeper, was involved in 8 of the 9 dismissals, the 9th being a run out! The pick of the bowlers for the Masters was Abey Kuruvilla with 4 for 35 of 8 overs. A very enjoyable game played in the right spirit by both teams. It was a pleasure and honor playing against the greats of yesteryear and a real shot in the arm for KCC Cricket, organisers and sponsors. Special thanks must go to Sri Lankan Airlines for their sponsorship and Krishna Kumar for acting as the liaison manager for the Masters. - Yarman Vachha KCC Centenary Masters – 24th November 2004 24 November 2004 saw another highlight in the KCC Centenary celebrations with a cricket match played involving the Masters contingent. A 30 over match was held between a team comprising 7 former Indian Test players and 4 KCC representatives and their opposition of 6 Sri Lankan ex-Test players joined by 5 HKCC representatives. Fine weather prevailed and an exciting game ensued with the game being played in the best possible spirit and only being decided in the last over. Batting first, Sri Lanka / HKCC amassed 276 -7 as opener Avishka Gunawardane took the opportunity to remind the Sri Lankan selectors about his abilities with a wonderfully composed 166. Fortunately, wickets fell regularly at the other end to ensure that the game remained competitive. Pick of the bowlers were Abhey Kuruvilla with 3-54, Nikhil Chopra 2-60 and KCC’s Roy Lamsam 2-29. It was also a delight to see Venkat bowling again after so many years and he was impeccably behaved with the umpires, as befits a former and well-respected Test umpire. India / KCC got off to a slow start and with wickets falling regularly; it was a struggle to chase 277. But all that changed when Robin Singh and Abhey Kuruvilla reached the crease and put on 159 for the 7th wicket. When Rumesh Ratnayake bowled Venkat, the team were only12 runs short or 2 balls short as the skipper remarked. On the bowling front, Rumesh took 5-25 and HKCC’s Gavin Erasmus rolled back the clock to take 3-33. Dinner followed accompanied by presentations from the match sponsor, Sri Lankan Airlines, who contributed greatly to the overall success of the entire Masters Cricket event. - Rob Gill KCC Centenary Masters – Sixes Tournament The 25th November 2004 saw 6 Sri Lankan and 6 Indian ex Test Players being split into teams for a six side sixes tournament. The 6 teams were divided into 2 groups of 3 teams, were everybody played each other once, and the bottom teams played each other of in a Bowl Final, the second placed teams played each other in a Plate Final and the top teams played each other in a Cup Final. In the Bowl final between Noble and TV Products, this was a entertaining game as both teams were evenly matched, and Noble won the game that went down to the wire. In the Plate Final, host KCC playing their arch enemies across the water the HKCC, unfortunately for the host they went down quite badly. In the Cup final the Independants played the U-19 and won quite convincingly. It was a good day all in all from which two things will be remembered most. One will be Avishka Gunawardene’s batting performance over the day. This guy is still trying to get back into the Sri Lankan Test and ODI Teams, any youngsters who were there to see his batting were treated to a great exhibition. The second episode to remember was seeing our Coach Afzaal Haider bowl in the Plate Final and when you have a former test player, of the calibre of Hashan Tilakaratne (Sri Lankan) who is an International renowned Wicket Keeper, saying that our coach was fired up and was quick, we are very lucky to have such talent in the club today. I would like to thank all our Sponsors for making this tournament a reality and providing all the trophies that were handed out to the winning teams. I would also like to thank Robert Blythe and his team who have worked hard to make sure that this event was a complete success. The teams that took part and their respective players are listed below. KCC Team
Independents Team
HKCA U-19 Team
Noble Group
HKCC Team
TV Products
- Shiroy Vachha |
