John Keells Group regains MCA Over 40 “Sixes” 2017 title

Last year’s runners-up John Keells Group led by 47-year-old Mahendra Amarasinghe regained the MCA Over 40 “Sixes” 2017 title, beating SriLankan Airlines in the Final at the MCA Grounds on Sunday. 

The tournament with a record number of 18 teams was conducted simultaneously at the MCA and Thurstan College Grounds and was once again sponsored by Ceylon Cold Stores PLC played for the “Elephant House Lemonade” Trophy. 

At the completion of the group stage matches, the 06 group leaders, namely – Fair First Insurance, SriLankan Airlines and Singer Sri Lanka PLC (from MCA); and John Keells Group. Sampath Bank “A” and AMW Group (from Thurstan) advanced to the elimination round. 

2nd round match results at a glance

At MCA: Singer Sri Lanka – 52/3 (5) lost to Sri Lankan Airlines 53/3 (3.4); 

Semi Final: Fair First Insurance 58/3 (5) lost to Sri Lankan Airlines – 61/0 (3.4) 

At Thurstan: AMW Group – 70/2 (5) lost to Sampath Bank “A” – 71/1 (3.3); 

Semi Final: John Keells - 100/1 (5) beat Sampath Bank “A” – 41/1 (5) 

The Final at MCA: John Keells 70/1 (5) (P.K. Abeygunasekera 32 not out, Nishantha Mendis 1/14) beat Sri Lankan Airlines – 47/2 (5) (Duminda Nanayakkara 19, Malinda Fernando 12 not out, Mahendra Amarasinghe 1/7)

Special awards: 

Most Senior Player – 59-year-old, Aruna de Silva from Sri Lanka Telecom (DOB 27/06/58)

Best Bowler: 48-year-old Duminda Nanayakkara from SriLankan Airlines (4-27-3) 

The Most Number of Sixes in the Tournament (07) was hit by 44-year-old Susantha de Mel from Fair First Insurance. 

The Best Batsman and the Man of the Final: 44-year-old P.K. Abeygunasekera from John Keells Group (03 innings /101 runs/03 not outs)

The winning John Keells Group team comprised Mahendra Amarasinghe, Wasanthalal Fernando, P.K. Abeygunasekera, Ravi Subasinghe, Gamini Fernando, Rasika Weeraratne, Adrian G. Jaakey & Arul Kumar Jebamani (Avg. age of team 46.12)

Awards were presented by Chief Guest, Marketing Manager Elephant House Beverages, Ceylon Cold Stores PLC, Nadeena Fernando, Senior VP/MCA, Roshan Iddamalgoda and Secretary T/C, MCA, Tarindra Kaluperuma.