The 21st David Pieris Group of Companies-powered MCA ‘E’ Division 25-Over League Tournament 2024 – the second longest-running MCA partnership – contested for the David Pieris Group of Companies Challenge Trophy, kicked off on Sunday (3).
The 18 participating teams were pooled into three groups as follows:
Group ‘A’: Emar Pharma (Pvt) Ltd., John Keells Group ‘B,’ Slim Pharmaceuticals (Pvt) Ltd., Amana Takaful PLC, Brandix Essentials ‘A,’ and Expolanka Freight
Group ‘B’: HSBC, Abans Group, PABC Bank, George Steuart Health (Pvt) Ltd., LOLC ‘B,’ and Teejay Lanka PLC
Group ‘C’: Commercial Credit & Finance, Ceylinco Insurance PLC, MAS Silueta, Sanasa Life Insurance PLC, Akbar Brothers (Pvt) Ltd., and Janashakthi Insurance PLC
Sanasa Life Insurance will be making their debut at MCA cricket.
In the previous final that took place on 11 February 2022 at the MCA Grounds, Hayleys Group ‘B’ beat Stafford Motor Co. by three runs.
The group stage of the tournament, consisting of 45 matches that began on Sunday, will continue until 14 January 2024.
The league stage will be followed by the knock-out stage, consisting of seven matches: quarter-finals on 20 January 2024, semi-finals on 27 January 2024, and the final on 3 February 2024 at the MCA Grounds.
The selected venues are MCA; St. Joseph’s College, Darley Road; D.S. Senanayake College Grounds; Dharmapala College, Pannipitiya; NSCA Ratmalana; De Mazenod College, Kandana; Royal College, Colombo; and Prince of Wales’ College, Moratuwa.
The tournament will be covered by MCA-appointed match referees and the DLS method will be used for all matches in order to arrive at a result for interrupted matches.
The officiating umpires will be assigned from the Association of Professional Cricket Umpires, Sri Lanka (APCU) and the officiating scorers will be assigned by Sri Lanka Cricket Scorers.
All matches until the final will be played with the Pakistan GOC League red ball, bearing the MCA logo, supplied to the participating teams by the MCA at cost.
The four David Pieris Group of Companies-powered special awards on offer are Best Batsman, Best Bowler, Man of the Series, and Man of the Final.
These matters were revealed to the media at the official sponsorship handing over ceremony held on Wednesday (6) at the MCA Legends Wing at 6.30 p.m.
The David Pieris Group of Companies was represented by David Pieris Motor Company (DPMC) Director and Chief Operating Officer Naalaka Madugalle, DPMC Director – Group Corporate Communications Romany Parakrama, Assetline Finance Ltd. Chief Marketing Officer Ajnatha Premasiri, and DPMC Chief Marketing Officer Samantha Silva.
The MCA was represented by President Mahesh de Alwis, Sponsorship Committee Chairman Hasitha Dassanayake, and Tournament and Sponsorship Committee Secretary K.D.S. Kanishka.