The famous ‘BRC sixes’ returned after a lapse of 20 years today with the Pre quarter final and quarter final games being worked off at the BRC grounds and Colts grounds respectively. The semi-finals and the grand final will be played tomorrow and a prize money of 1 Million Rupees awaits the champions while the runner-up will be rewarded 250,000 Rupees.
BRC overcome Colts to emerge champions
The inaugural BRC sixes was held in 1969 and grew to be a much looked forward to cricket tournament that attracted several thousands of spectators every year. The tournament was last played in 1996 and was won by BRC in its centenary year under the captaincy of Deepal Madurapperuma.
The tournament kicked off today with a couple of interesting rules in place such as– A batsman must retire not out upon reaching a personal score of 31 runs, but may not retire before reaching 31 runs (except for injury). Also, if one of the last pair of batsman is out before the completion of the 5 overs, the retired batsman may return to the crease in order of retirement, while a Wide or a No Ball was to be counted as two extras to the batting team and an extra ball to be bowled.
With 16 teams in the mix, the tournament kicked off from the pre quarter final stage with no league phase and a straight knock out for the losers. BRC, CCC, Chilaw Marians, SSC, Saracens, Moors, Navy SC and Colts beat Army SC, Galle CC, Ragma CC, Bloomfield, Tamil Union, Ports Authority, NCC and Baduraliya SC respectively in their pre quarter final encounters.
In the quarter final stage, BRC overcame stiff competition from CCC to beat them by six runs while SSC thrashed Chilaw Marians by 32 runs while also being the first team to reach the three figure mark in the tournament. Colts made light work of Navy SC in the third quarter final while Moors beat Saracens by 18 runs to book their place in the semi-finals.
Pre quarter finals
BRC-66/4 (5 overs) Indika De Saram 30, T.M. Sampath 14
Vs
Army SC- 41 all out (3.3 overs) Janaka Sampath 32, Vikum Sanjaya 2/04, Ramesh Buddhika 2/05
CCC-83/2(5 overs) Ashan Priyanjan 35rtd, Madawa Warnapura 26*
Vs
Galle CC-64/3(5 overs) Shalika Karunanayake 32rtd
Ragama CC-50/5(5 overs) Koshan Dhanushka 26
Vs
Chilaw Marians-52/2(3.4 overs) Isuru Udana 32rtd
SSC-73/2(5 overs) Danushka Gunatileke 26*, Ramesh Mendis 26
Vs
Bloomfield-72/1(5 overs) Nipun Karunanayake 36*, Adeesha Nanayakkara 30*
Tamil Union-60/3(5 overs) Pulina Tharanga 32rtd
Vs
Saracens-64/2(4.1 overs) Denuwan Rajakaruna 21*, Geeth Alwis 17
Ports Authority-58/5(5 overs) Anuk De Alwis 19, Tharindu Mendis 2/07
Vs
Moors SC-59/1(4 overs) Ruvindu Gunasekara 35rtd
Navy SC-64/5(5 overs) Dinushka Malan 36rtd, Tharindu Kaushal 3/09
Vs
NCC-49/5(5 overs) A.Perera 31rtd
Baduraliya SC- 64/4(5 overs) Saliya Saman 30*, Ishan Jayaratne 2/02
Vs
Colts CC- 66/0(4.1 overs) Sadeera Samarawickrama 35rtd, Ishan Jayaratne 24*
Quarter finals
BRC-79/3(5 overs) Andy Solomons 28, Romesh Buddhika 26*
Vs
CCC-73/3(5 overs) Wanidu Hasaranga 31rtd, Ashan Priyanjan 31rtd
SSC-102/2(5 overs) Danushka Gunatileke 34rtd, Chamara Kapugedara 28, Sammu Ashan 22*.
Vs
Chilaw Marians-70/1(5 overs) Isuru Udam’s 32rtd
Navy SC-62/3(5 overs) A. Eranda 24
Vs
Colts CC-63/2(4 overs) Sadeera Samarawickrama 32rtd, Amith Eranda 2/17
Moors SC-66/2(5 overs) Thilina Thushara 32rtd, Ruvindu Gunasekara 31rtd
Vs
Saracens SC- 48/5(5 overs) Umesh Karunaratne 19, Lassana Perera 2/10
