Second Memon Premier League from August 21 to 31
View(s):After a successful inaugural Memon Premier League, the Far East Chapter of the World Memon Organisation (WMO), mostly comprised by Sri Lankans will host the second edition of the Twenty20 cricket championship.
The tournament, featuring six chapters of WMO, will be held from August 21 to 31 at the SSC and R. Premadasa ICS, two international venues situated in Colombo. The six chapters competing will be India, Africa and Far East, where Sri Lanka is featured, from Group ‘A’ and Pakistan, Middle East and Europe from Group ‘B’.
The tournament will be played in accordance to international rules covering Twenty20 cricket set by the ICC. The matches will be officiated by an internationally recognised panel of umpires and officials, comprising of Ranmore Martinez, Asoka de Silva, Lyndon Hannibal and top premier cricket umpires of SLC.
Addressing the media briefing held on Wednesday at the Hilton Colombo in this connection, A.C. Saleem, the Vice President of WMO, said that they were privileged Sri Lanka was selected as the host country for this event after the successful inaugural event held in February 2013. “The first edition of the MPL was conducted in a professional manner and it received the admiration of all involved. This edition should be even better, the organising committee has been working tirelessly for the last two months to make this event even more memorable,” he said.
All teams will be trying to get their hands on the WMO President’s Challenge Trophy, which was carried away by Pakistan after beating India in the final in 2013. Every game will have a man of the match award, in addition to the best bowler, best batsman and most valuable player awards for the tournament.
Two games each will be played from August 24 to 26 at the SSC and R. Premedasa ICS followed by a rest day on August 27. The two semi-finals are scheduled for August 28, at 9.00am and 2.00pm at the R. Premadasa ICS. The losers of the semis will clash in a third place playoff, which will be played at the same venue on August 29 from 9.00am. The final will be played on August 30, from 1.00pm at the R. Premadasa ICS with the President of WMO, Sulaiman Noor Mohamed gracing the occasion as the chief guest.
Concurrently the 13th Annual General Meeting of the WMO, the third International Youth Conference and the International Ladies Wing meeting will also be held during this period to give the participants an added reason to be present for the competition.