Floods prevent play in first day of U23 tournament

The first day's play of all the Under 23 tournament quarterfinal matches were called off due to torrential rain in Colombo throughout the day.

The encounter between Singhalese Sports Club and Nondescript Cricket Club at P Sara stadium was the first to be called off this morning at 11.15. The other games -Sebastanites versus Antonians at Moors Sports Club, Colombo Cricket Club versus KYCC at NCC, and Panadura versus Moors at Bloomfield ground - soon followed suit.

Such was the severity of the downpour that there were widespread floods throughout Colombo. The chances of play tomorrow appear very slim.

Tournament Director, Bandula Dissanayake, said the tournament has to progress under any circumstances and they will work as per the schedule. "There is little we can do, it is really unfortunate that the best part of the tournament has been hit by rain."

According to stipulations of the tournament, in the event of abandonment, semi-final places will be awarded according to average nett points in the preliminary round matches.

If a match were to start and a conclusion not reached, then the winner will be the team with the highest nett points in the match.