Competition winner in Colombo

Naomi Boland of Perth, Australia, was the lucky winner of Dilmah Cricket Network's "Win a trip to Sri Lanka" competition, and she and her husband Paul spent a hectic but eventful week in Sri Lanka.

Arriving a few days prior to the third Test match, Naomi and Paul dashed off to Kandy where they stayed at the Earls Regency Hotel and visited the important landmarks of the region, which included a visit to the Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawella.

While the cricket was indeed the main priority, Naomi and Paul nevertheless found time to visit the home of Dilmah where they toured the factory and learned from expert tea tasters, and of course, met with the Founder of Dilmah, Merrill J. Fernando.

Additionally, Naomi and Paul attended two company events, the charity event for 500 underprivileged kids held at Sathutu Uyana, and at the t-Bar in the Trans Asia Hotel, for the launch of the t-Cocktail commemorating the visit to Sri Lanka by the reigning Miss World, Rosanna Davison, who graced the occasion herself.

As for the cricket, the two Aussies had much to cheer about with their team completing an impressive clean sweep in the Test series, and of course, the opportunity to rub shoulders with the stars while staying at the team hotel was a bonus.

The competition, which attracted some 8000 entries, required participants to answer four questions, one of which caused the downfall of about 75 percent of the entries! The question posed was "who captured the first ten wicket haul for Sri Lanka in a Test match?" with a multiple-choice answer from Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan and Asantha de Mel.

Widely publicised as the bowler with the most number of ten wicket hauls in the history of the game, most registrants backed the great bowler Muralitharan, but alas, incorrectly. It was Chaminda Vaas who holds this honour having picked up ten wickets against New Zealand at Napier in 1995, nearly three years before Murali picked up his first of 13 ten-wicket hauls.

Ultimately, there were approximately 1500 correct entries only, and Sanath Jayasuriya picked out the winner during a break in the first Test match at Galle. For this, Naomi and Paul were certainly happy that they were able to thank "the master blaster" personally.

DCN thank all those who participated in this competition and we look forward to your on-going support. Our congratulations once again go out to Naomi, who along with husband Paul, we trust had a blast in Sri Lanka!

Click here to see the photo gallery of Naomi Boland's tour in Sri Lanka.