A good time was had by all at Asian Alliance Open Cricket Tourney

CRICKET: The "Asian Alliance Open Cricket Tournament 2011" organised by the Sports Club of AAI was held on the 24th of July 2011 at the Race Course Grounds.

The event was a six-a-side soft ball cricket tournament among the teams from companies in the fields of Banking, Insurance, Investment, Stock Brokering, Shipping, Manufacturing, etc. Over 25 teams from the invited companies & over 500 spectators were present at this funfilled event. DJs, Papare bands, food & beverages added excitement and colour to the day.

The day's proceedings started with the corporate cricket teams being welcomed by the Chief Guest, Ramal Jayasinghe - Director/CEO of AAI together with the Asian Alliance Insurance Sports Club officials. As the matches commenced and progressed a lively crowd of supporters including the staff members from the Companies who participated in the Cricket Tournament supported their teams. They created an atmosphere filled with music and cheering which was indeed an encouragement to the teams. It was an inspiring sight to observe the cricketers of each team displaying their talents.

45 matches were played among 26 teams on 3 pitches at the Race Course Grounds during the day. An exciting piece of cricket was played in the semi-final matches among Mas Active Ltd. vs Leinia Clothing Kandy Ltd. & Mas Unichela Casual Line Division Vs Unichela (Pvt) Ltd. - Slimtex Division, Kuliyapitiya. The final battle of the Asian Alliance Open Cricket Tournament 2011 was between Mas Unichela Casual Line & Mas Active Ltd, and Mas Unichela Casual Line emerged as the champion by defeating Mas Active Ltd, by 2 wickets.

Mas Active team scored 69 runs for the loss of 4 wickets within 5 overs. Rohan Fernando scored 25 runs and Nilantha scored 19 runs for the Mas Active team. In response, Mas Unichela Casual Line team scored 74 runs for 3 wickets in 4.4 overs; 30 & 17 runs were scored by Suresh & Sajan, respectively.

Ashan Buddhika from Mas Unichela Casual Line team claimed the award for the Best Bowler and Roshan Fernando from Mas Active team claimed Best Batsman's award of the Asian Alliance Open Cricket Tournament 2011. The winners were awarded with trophies & cash prizes by the organisers of the event.