Hatton National Bank and Seylan Bank put themselves in line to win the Mercantile 'A' division league cricket title after torrential rain washed out all four matches of the Singer sponsored tournament on Sunday. The affected matches were : Singer v Sampath Bank at NCC, E-wis v Seylan Bank at Bloomfield, Access v John Keells at Moors and Janashakthi v HNB at Colts. HNB headed the standings after yesterday's matches, but only on a slightly better net run rate from Seylan Bank. Both teams are fighting for the league title and their clash on Wednesday (June 6) at the NCC may well decide the outcome. HNB and Seylan have the identical playing record of four wins from five matches and 17 points. Access, last year's runner-up also have the same number of points, but have played one game more than their two rivals and have only a slim chance of winning the title following their defeat at the hands of HNB on Saturday. Three teams are fighting for the fourth place to qualify for the next stage of the competition - the knockout. Sampath Bank, Janashakthi and John Keells all have nine points each and only the nett run rate separate them. Sampath with a superior net run rate are better placed. Their clash with arch rivals HNB on Poya Day (Tuesday) at the Moors is a vital match and there is a possibility of security personnel being deployed at the venue to prevent any untoward incidents. From this year the competition is being run in two stages - the league and the knockout. The knockout for which the top four teams in the league qualify will be worked off on June 16 at the Moors and Bloomfield grounds, with the final scheduled for June 24 at the NCC.

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