The two ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 warm-up matches that had been scheduled to take place at Pallekele, Sri Lanka, will now be played at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) ground in Colombo after persistent rain hampered the preparation of pitches in the original venue, it was confirmed today.

The matches will be day games and while Hambantota had also been considered as an alternate venue for those games, heavy rain in that southern Sri Lankan region also ruled out that option.

The decision to move away from Pallekele had been taken by local and ICC officials following a recommendation by ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson after he inspected the venue on Wednesday.

It means that the matches between Sri Lanka and the Netherlands on Saturday 12 February and Kenya versus the Netherlands on 15 February will be moved to SSC. This does not affect the three tournament fixtures scheduled to take place at Pallekele in March.

Pallekele will host three matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, starting with the clash between New Zealand and Pakistan on 8 March, followed by Sri Lanka’s match-up with Zimbabwe on 10 March and concluding with the Pakistan v Zimbabwe fixture on 12 March.