Pace heats up as league phase draws to close

KANDY and Colombo both missed opportunities to topple defending champions Galle from the top of the table when they failed to grab maximum points from their respective matches played last weekend.

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Kandy managed only first innings points from Jaffna which was insufficient to displace Galle, while Colombo suffered an eight-wicket defeat at the hands of Dambulla.

Despite these reverse fortunes, the field is still clear for any of the five teams to make it to the top two to qualify for the final.

Galle holds a five-point gap over the rest of the field but all that can change with one result because Dambulla, Kandy and Colombo are all bunched together with less than a point separating them.

Jaffna are the only team without even a first innings win and they have a lot of work to do in their remaining games to lift themselves from the bottom of the table.