CDB PLC Makes History with Championship Victory

The inaugural Mercantile T10 Cricket Tournament successfully concluded yesterday (5^th of May) at MCA Grounds Colombo. The Mercantile Cricket Association, along with the Assetline Insurance Brokers (Pvt) Ltd (a subsidiary of David Pieris Group of Companies) being the proud sponsors, took a step forward in organizing the very first T10 Cricket Tournament in Sri Lanka. CDB PLC achieved the historical milestone by being the champions of the very first T10 Cricket Tournament in Sri Lanka.

16 teams were divided into 4 groups and competed with each other to take a spot in the Quarter Finals of this tournament.  The Cricket tournament kicked off on a grand note on April 27^th and 28^th, with four matches happening simultaneously at three venues: MCA grounds, Dharmapala College, Pannipitiya and De Mazenod College, Kandana. This opening round was followed by the Quarter Finals on May 4^th at De Mazenod College, Kandana. The excitement then shifted to the MCA grounds for the Semi Finals and the Final on May 5^th, played on a prestigious turf wicket.

The teams are as follows:

 

Recovery Room, Powerhand Plantations, Peoples Leasing Co., Ansell Textiles, George Steuart Health, Emar Pharma, Certis Lanka, Softlogic Life, Citizens Development Business Finance (CDB), David Pieris Group of Companies, Dialog Axiata PLC, Hilton Colombo Residencies, Seylan Bank, Astron Lanka, LOLC and Maliban Biscuits.

The first round of the tournament saw Hatton National Bank, Seylan Bank, and CDB Finance flex their muscles.  Each team displayed exceptional skill, conquering all three of their matches and remaining undefeated.

Quater Final results:

 

Seylan Bank beat The Recovery Room by 34 runs
(Seylan Bank 76/9, The Recovery Room 42/10)

 

LOLC Holdings PLC beat People’s Leasing & Finance PLC by 72 runs
(LOLC Holdings PLC 134/7, People’s Leasing & Finance PLC 62/9)

 

Hatton National Bank beat George Steuart Health (Pvt) Ltd by 25 runs
(Hatton National Bank 111/7, George Steuart Health (Pvt) Ltd 86/5)

 

CDB Finance beat Power Hand Plantation by 14 runs
(CDB Finance 85/5, Power Hand Plantation 71/9)

When we arrived to the business end of the tournament, two banking giants in Sri Lanka met each other in the first Semi Final – HNB and Seylan Bank played against each other in a spectacular closely ended match even though it was a low- scoring game. Then the second Semi Final was played between CDB and LOLC teams. LOLC went on to bat first as they got a very impressive start to their innings, but an unfortunate fall of their batting line up restricted them to a low score where they could have scored a good target easily. Team CDB easily chased the target to get their ticket to the Finals.

Semi Final results:

 

Seylan Bank beat HNB by 12 runs
(Seylan Bank 69/6, HNB 47/10)

 

Citizens Development Business Finance PLC (CDB) beat LOLC Holdings PLC by 9 wickets
(LOLC Holdings PLC 78/10, CDB 83/1)

Right after the lunch break, all the attention was drawn to the grand Final of the very first T10 Cricket Tournament in Sri Lanka, which took place between CDB and Seylan Bank. The Skipper of Seylan Bank won the toss and invited CDB, with a powerful batting lineup, to bat. As the Captain of the team, Shevon Daniel took matters into his hands and played a dashing knock by scoring 65 runs off just 27 deliveries and helped his team to put up a mammoth score of 127 at the end of 10 overs. The Seylan Bank batters were unable to stand up against the CDB bowlers and they ended up at 53 runs with the loss of 9 wickets as CDB emerged victorious.

FINALS:

 

CDB PLC beat Seylan Bank by 74 runs
CDB PLC 127/4 (10), Seylan Bank 53/9 (10)

Best Bowler – Muditha Lakshan (CDB)

Best Batsman – Shevon Daniel (CDB)

Man of the Final – Muditha Lakshan (CDB)

Man of the Tournament – Lasindu Nimsara (Seylan Bank)

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