Nalanda crush Mahinda by 10 wickets to win Col. Henry Steele Olcott Memorial Trophy

 Nalanda College past cricketers won the Sir Henry Steele Olcott Memorial Trophy at Uyanwatta yesterday

Mahinda College team captain Hieantha Wijesinghe receiving his trophy

 Nalanda’s Shanuka Disanayake was named the Man of the Final and Best Batsman of the final

Nalanda’s Ishara Amarasinghe was adjudged the Best Bowler of the final

Malinga Suriyappylli was named the Best Fielder of the final

Text and pictures 

By P.D. De Silva 

Excellent bowling by Shanuka Disanayake, Ishara Amarasinghe and Mewan Porage helped the past cricketers of Nalanda College Colombo overcome the past cricketers of  Mahinda College Galle at the  to clinch the Sir Henry Steele Olcott Memorial Trophy for the first time in the 21 year old history of the game.

Nalanda restricted the unbeaten Mahinda team to 34/9 in their six overs and scored the winning runs in 2.3 overs with ten wickets in hand.

In the preliminary rounds Mahinda defeated Dharmasoka, Ananda and Rahula teams to lead group A while Nalanda defeated Maliyadewa, Dharmaraja and Dharmapala to top group B. 

In the semi-finals, Mahinda defeated Maliyadewa by 9 wickets and Nalanda overcame Dharmasoka by 8 runs in a high scoring game to qualify for the final.

Nalanda swept the awards with Shanuka Disanayake being named man of the final and also the best batman award while Ishara Amarasinghe was named the best bowler and  Malinga Suriyappulli named the best fielder.