The Unitech Cup 2006 was 3 match bilateral One-Day cricket contest between home team Sri Lanka and India. The Unitech Cup was originally a Triangular One-Day Cricket Tournament to be held in Sri Lanka, between Sri Lanka, India and South Africa. However, South Africa pulled out due to safety issues regarding a nearby bomb blast in Colombo, not far from the stadium. The tournaments fixtures were to be held originally in the cities of Dambulla and Colombo, but were later revised to be played only in Colombo. Each team was to play 4 matches, 2 against each opponent, with the best 2 teams qualifying for the final. Despite statistics pointing out Sri Lanka to be favourites at home, the series was tipped to be one of the most competitive tournaments in a while. This was despite many key injuries in the South African squad.
Squads Mahela Jayawardene (c) Kumar Sangakkara (vc & wk) Upul Tharanga Sanath Jayasuriya Tillakaratne Dilshan Marvan Atapattu Chamara Kapugedera Chaminda Vaas Farveez Maharoof Lasith Malinga Dilhara Fernando Muttiah Muralitharan Malinga Bandara Ruchira Perera Prasanna Jayawardene (wk) Rahul Dravid (c) Virender Sehwag (vc) Sachin Tendulkar Yuvraj Singh Mohammad Kaif Suresh Raina MS Dhoni (wk) Irfan Pathan Sreesanth Harbhajan Singh Ramesh Powar Ajit Agarkar Munaf Patel RP Singh Dinesh Mongia Mark Boucher (c & wk) Shaun Pollock (vc) Boeta Dippenaar Loots Bosman Herschelle Gibbs AB de Villiers Johan van der Wath Robin Peterson Andrew Hall André Nel Makhaya Ntini Ashwell Prince Roger Telemachus Thandi Tshabalala
Safety issues On the eve of the tournament, the opening match, between Sri Lanka and South Africa, on 14 August 2006, was called off due to torrential rain. With reserve days for each scheduled match, this was not a major issue, but a bomb blast that occurred only 2 kilometres away from the stadium endangered the tournament. This was due to increased concerns from the South African players, who were ready to pull out, but were willing to continue playing if Security Evaluations deemed it safe. An official statement from the South African Cricket Board was made, stating that the team would pull out, due to the current risk being at an "unacceptable level".
The Sri Lankan board persuaded the Board of Cricket Control of India to consider a 5-match Bilateral series, but the BCCI accepted a 3-match series.
A revised fixtures list was released after the considerable delay and the decision made by the South Africans.
League stage
Postponed match
1st match
2nd match
3rd match
4th match
5th match
6th match
Rescheduled ODI series between Sri Lanka and India
External links Cricinfo - Triseries in Sri Lanka 2006 - http://aus.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2006/OD_TOURNEYS/UNITECHC/
References