Date-stamped : 06 Jun96 - 10:19 Chris Cowdrey Invitation XI v Sri Lanka Cavaliers Gloucestershire County Grounds, Bristol 31 May 1996 ====> REPORT Cavaliers lose by five wickets Reggie Fernando, our London Correspondent Sri Lanka vice-captain Aravinda de Silva sparkled with a run-a- ball innings of 42 but could not prevent a Chris Cowdrey Invita- tion XI from beating the Sri Lanka Cavaliers by five wickets in their limited overs encounter played at the Gloucestershire coun- ty grounds in Bristol on Friday. The Cavaliers consisting the entire World Cup winning side with the exception of Asanka Gurusinha, kept the 2000 spectators awaiting patiently till they turned up only a few minutes before the game was due to commence, thus delaying the start by 20 minutes. Bristol is about 130 miles from their hotel in London from where they travelled by coach. The Cavaliers openers received a huge ovation, but many who had come to watch Sanath Jayasuriya were sadly disappointed when he was yorked off the second ball by South African paceman Allan Donald. Romesh Kaluwitharana followed soon being another victim of Donald. De Silva provided a short but masterly innings of 42 be- fore being leg before to South African paceman Merryck Pringle. Thereafter, the Cavaliers lost four cheap wickets through run outs and folded up for 182 off 48.5 overs. The Cowdrey Invitation XI led by former West Indies captain Richie Richardson hammered the required runs with 10 overs to spare scoring 183 for 5. "The Cavaliers are a very entertaining side who I am sure every- one here would love to see. If there`s any opportunity that we can organise a Test series then we`ve got to do it,`` said Cowdrey. Meanwhile, the much respected morning daily, `The Daily Mail` said : "There cannot be many sports whose world champions are kept in purdah as the flamboyant Sri Lankans, seven-wicket con- querors of Australia 11 weeks ago``. The Test and County Cricket Board would not sanction fixtures against county sides this summer in England and the only Test planned with them is one game on the back of a five-series South African tour in two years` time. Sri Lanka Cavaliers: Arjuna Ranatunga (captain), Sanath Jayasuri- ya, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Aravinda de Silva, Hashan Tillekeratne, Roshan Mahanama, Sanjeeva Ranatunga, Kumara Dharmasena, Muthiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Pramodya Wickremasinghe. Chris Cowdrey Invitation XI : Richie Richardson (captain), Phil Simmons, Jimmy Adams, Andy Flower, Gus Logie, Chris Harris, Grant Flower, Roger Harper, Ian Bishop, Merryck Pringle, Allan Donald. Scores: Sri Lanka Cavaliers 182 (P.A. de Silva 42, A.A. Donald 2 for 14, C.Z. Harris 2 for 30) lost to Chris Cowdrey Invitation XI 183 for 5 (A.L. Logie 40, G.W. Flower 38, R.B. Richardson 31 n.o., S.T. Jayasuriya 2 for 29) by five wickets. Source :: Daily News (http.//www.lanka.net) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)