PALLEKELE: In a big relief to all the stakeholders including fans and broadcasters, the Asian Cricket Council has decided not to move the Super Four stage of the 2023 Asia Cup out of Colombo. The ACC along with co-host Sri Lanka Cricket and other participating nations was mulling over a move to shift the tournament out of Colombo due to heavy rains in the city.
As many as five Super Four matches are scheduled to be held in Colombo from September 9 to 15 apart from the final two days later.
A few alternate venues including Dambulla and Hambantota also came up for discussion but the former was rejected as the visiting West Indies U-19 team is scheduled to play a four-day match at the venue from September 5 to 8. Their next four-day match starts at the same venue on September 12. They reached Sri Lanka last month and had already played three 50-over-day matches.
Hambantota was an option but the distance between hotels and the ground might have worked against it.
An SLC source on Monday told TNIE, “At present effort is on to make the original schedule work. Anyway, there are still four days left for the first match in Colombo. Both Colombo and Pallekele are still options along with Hambantota. Today the rain has subsided in Colombo which is good news.”
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Indian team has left Kandy on Tuesday for Colombo. They play their first Super Four match against arch-rivals Pakistan on September 10.
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