Dialog clinches mercantile knockout championship 2011

Dialog Axiata PLC led by the ever resilient Duke Rajapakshe defeated the much fancied DFCC Group in a thrilling contest last Friday (1 July 2011) at the Otter Aquatic Club to grab their 1st ever MSBA ‘A Division’ title.

The game last Friday was in the balance during the early stages, but Dialog controlled most part of the game leading in all four quarters of the game. The scores were 20 / 16 end of the 1st quarter, 35 / 29 end of the 2nd quarter, 56 / 40 end of the 3rd quarter, in favour of Dialog, which speaks volume on the domination Dialog had.

A late rally by DFCC in the final quarter was due to Dialog losing some players through foul trouble, mainly Mafaz Mohideen, who had a superb game in defense and assists. The final score was 72 points to 67 points.

Harshadewa De Silva was in fine form and unstoppable as he scored 30 points for Dialog while skipper Duke Rajapakshe with 14 points and Asela Perera with 12 Points did the bulk of the scoring. For DFCC skipper Gayan Meedeniya and Chamath Serasinghe played well.

It was a superb team effort by Dialog who pulled off this win despite some injuries to its key players. Center Gemunu Sandaruwan a key player in the Dialog line up was sidelined with an ankle injury during the 2nd quarter of the game.

Any of these setbacks didn’t stop Dialog in the quest of its maiden ‘A Division’ championship as they played as one cohesive unit. The team was well handled by coach Ranura Nanayakkara by making key substitutions and tactical changes at the right time. Earlier in the tournament Dialog had overcome a strong Nation Trust Bank side from a come from behind win in the Semi Finals while DFCC had stunned 10 time champions Sampath Bank.

Fittingly, Dialog won both special awards, Harshadewa De Silva adjudged man-of-the-final and Duke Rajapakshe picked as the most outstanding player of the tournament for his continuous brilliance right throughout the tournament and leadership.

In the 34 year old history of Mercantile Basketball, Dialog has marked its name as the only telecommunication sector team competing in the ‘A Division’ and to win it, which is dominated mainly by the banking sector comprising the cream of national level basketball players.