MCA ‘C’ Division 50-Over League kicks off this weekend

The Mercantile Cricket Association’s (MCA) third one-day cricket tournament, the ‘C’ Division 50-Over League 2020, gets underway this weekend on 18 and 19 January. 

Unfortunately, the tournament has so far not attracted a sponsor, with past sponsor Prestige Automobile Ltd. stepping down after eight years. Therefore, the previous winner, Asia Asset Finance, will keep the BMW-Hyundai Trophy. They emerged victorious after beating Pyramid Wilmor in last year’s final, which took place on 16 March at the MCA grounds. 

This time 10 teams are in the fray, with the groupings as follows: 

Group ‘A’: Nations Trust Bank, Commercial Credit & Finance, DFCC Bank, Morison Plc and Heshan Flexi Packaging.

Group ‘B’: People’s Leasing Company, Commercial Bank, PABC Bank, Sri Lanka Telecom and HNB Finance. The tournament will be conducted in two stages – a round robin format followed by a knockout segment, consisting of a total of 27 matches including the final. 

The round robin stage, consisting of 20 matches, will be played from 18 January-15 February and spread across six venues, namely the MCA ground, Army ground in Dombagoda, De Soysa Park in Moratuwa, BRC Ground, Surrey Village Cricket Ground in Maggona and Moors at Braybrooke Place. 

Upon the completion of the round robin stage, the first four teams from each group will advance to the elimination round, scheduled for 22 February (quarterfinals) and 29 February (semi-finals) and the finals on 7 March to be played at the MCA grounds. 

Tournament openers: 18 January – Morison vs. Heshan Flexi at the MCA ground and Commercial Bank vs. PABC at Dombagoda.

19 January – Commercial Credit vs. DFCC Bank at the MCA ground 0and Sri Lanka Telecom vs. HNB Finance at De Soysa Park.