International 20:20, Grace Road

Bowl outs decide the day at rain-hit Leicester

Cricinfo staff

September 15, 2005

Chilaw Marians Cricket Club 21 for 0 v PCA Masters XI Match Abandoned - PCA won bowl-out 6-2
Scorecard

Only 2.1 overs play were possible in the opening match at Grace Road © Leicestershire CCC

The opening match of the International 20:20, between Chilaw Marians, the Sri Lanka champions, and a PCA Masters XI, was reduced to a bowl-out of stumps in the indoor school at Leicester. The PCA won 6-2 after only 2.1 overs were possible at Grace Road before the heavens opened for a second time.

The PCA Masters XI - including a mixture of county players, fringe and former international cricketers - had won the toss and opted to bowl first. An experiment of giving the first over to Chris Gayle was an expensive decision as he went for 16 runs. But Jon Lewis, the Gloucestershire and England seamer, conceded just a single before the players were forced off the field.

After their bowl-out win the PCA take two points and with the weather still poor the remaining two matches on the opening day of the tournament are heading the same way.

Leicestershire v Faisalabad Wolves - No result

The second match of the opening day in the International 20:20 was also decided by a bowl-out as rain continued to fall at Grace Road. Leicestershire won 5-3 in the indoor school to take two points.

Darren Maddy, Hylton Ackerman, John Sadler, Jim Allenby and Jeremy Snape were on target as the batsmen showed the bowlers how it should be done. Although Abdul Manan and Mohammad Hafeez scored hits with their first bowls for the Wolves, they struggled after that with only Imran Khalid being successful.

PCA Masters XI v Titans - No result

The third match of the day was, again, decided by a bowl-out. PCA were trailing 5-4 in a thrilling nail-biter, and were indebted to Jon Lewis, who saved the day by rattling the stumps with the final attempt.

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