Chilaw Marians set for Premier League promotion

Chilaw Marians

Chilaw Marians are well set to play in the Premier Cricket Tournament next season after a fine run in the ongoing promotion and relegation matches. The North West coastal town side has so far played in three matches and has recorded two first innings wins, one against Ragama Cricket Club and the other against Police Sports Club, while recording an outright victory against Navy Sports Club, who play in the Division One in the domestic season.

The promotion and relegation matches are being played between the top two sides of the P.Sara competition and the bottom four teams of the Premier League. The top two sides will play in the Premier League next year, which has been trimmed to 16 teams.

Chilaw Marians with two more matches to go appear certain to get themselves promoted to play in the first Division with 37.3 points in three matches.

The club, which was founded in 1970 by Rev Edwin Ambrose, burst onto the domestic cricket scene in 2000 and has been a threat to more established clubs since. They won the P.Sara Trophy this year.

The team, captained by Saman Tittagalla, has some up and coming youngsters in their ranks: Ishan Mutalip, a school boy, excelled as a fine batsman in the Under 17 Asian Cup Championship in Pakistan; Arosha Perera, Praneeth Jayasundara, and Janaka Gunaratne have also performed remarkably for the side this season.

Progress of the Chilaw Marians.

· Sara Trophy Champions 2001. · Sara Limited Over Runners Up 2001. · Sara Qualifying Tournament Champions 2000. · Sara U-23 Champions 2000. · Sara Limited Over Champions 2000.