Inaugural caterpillar district cricket tournament a success

Wednesday, 3 December 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

United Tractor and Equipment (UTE) dominated the inaugural CAT District T10/20 cricket tournament, beating three visiting teams at a tournament held at the SSC. This tournament was held to encourage and facilitate interaction among Caterpillar dealers in the India region. Teams representing two Indian Cat dealers and Caterpillar India were pitted against UTE in this quadrangular tournament. UTE, who have been a longstanding member of the Sri Lanka Mercantile Cricket Association, competed as the UTE Challengers while the other teams were the TIPL Panthers from North India, the GMMCO Giants from Southern India and the Bangalore Tigers, which was the team representing Caterpillar.

The victorious UTE Challengers cricket team with Chief Guest Aravinda de Silva The CAT India District T10/20 tournament was the brainchild of Kevin Strydom, the District Manager of Caterpillar India as a way of enhancing interaction and cooperation amongst Cat and distributors in the region. The first semi-final match pitted the GMMCO Giants against the Bangalore Tigers, with the latter winning by 14 runs. The next semi-final match saw the UTE Challengers eliminating TIPL Panthers by seven wickets In the grand final, UTE Challengers’ top batsman Nirmal Jayasuriya contributed 78 runs to their final score of 175 for 2 wickets while also displaying his skills as an all-rounder, collecting two wickets. Nuwan Ranathunga’s three wickets in four overs and Akila Malan’s two wickets wrapped up an overall impressive bowling performance to win this inaugural match against the Bangalore Tigers who were shot out for 90 runs. “Congratulations to our Indian friends who participated so enthusiastically and turned this dream into a reality. The Caterpillar India District T10/20 Challenge is born and we hope that it may live and grow. Many thanks to the weather gods for making it a wonderful day and providing starry skies as the celebrations wore on well into the night,” said UTE Chairman Priath Fernando. The awards were distributed at Playtrix Sports Bar and Cafe by 1996 World Cup Man of the Match Aravinda de Silva, who graced the occasion as Chief Guest and Caterpillar Asia Regional Manager Steve Lanctot, who was the Guest of Honour.