44 teams, white balls and coloured kits for MCA knock-outs

MCA president Sirosha Gunatilake receiving the sponsorship cheque from General Manager (Stafford Motor Company) Motorcycle Sales & Power Products Kapila Gunathilake (Pic by Waruna Wanniarachchi) 

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana 

As many as 44 teams face the knockout stage of the MCA T20 ‘G’ Division tournament which commenced with the pre-quarter finals yesterday and the final on May 24. 

The Mercantile Cricket Association “G” Division T20 League Tournament 2026, the final of the major matting tournaments in the MCA current season, is sponsored for the 15th successive year by Stafford Motor Company and is contested for the Honda Trophy. 

The 44 teams are divided into seven groups and the tournament is conducted in two stages, consisting of 133 half-day matches (118 league matches and 15 knockout matches). 

The league stage concluded on April 26 and the knockout schedule commenced from the pre-quarter finals yesterday.

The quarter finals will be on May 3 and semifinals on May 10. The final will be played at the MCA Ground on May 24. 

The sponsorship presentation ceremony was held on Tuesday (28) at the MCA Legends Wing attended by the General Manager – Motorcycle Sales & Power Products Kapila Gunathilake, General Manager – Spectrum Trading & Administration Damitha Jayasundara and Manager – Administration Thushan Mendis all from Stafford Motor Company along with MCA president Sirosha Gunatilake and MCA Chairman of the Sponsorship Committee KDS Kanishka. 

Sirosha Gunatilake addressing the gathering said the MCA Tournament Committee has introduced the T20 format for the first time in the history of the G Division Tournament with white ball and coloured clothing. 

“The MCA–Stafford Motor Company partnership is the third-longest running sponsorship in MCA history, featuring the highest number of entries with 44 teams, including six new entrants in Future Life Holdings, Alaris Lanka, Home Land Group, Swisstek Ceylon, Transco and Sitecore,” Gunatilake said. 

The tournament format is as follows; 

Group Breakdown: Group A (six teams) WSO2, Jetwing Travels, CDB-B, Maliban Biscuit “B”, Hayleys Group “C” and Sysco Labs. Group B (seven teams) Emar Pharma, Synergen Health, MAS Active “Kreeda”, Regnis Appliances, Sri Lanka Telecom, LOLC Insurance and Fairfirst Insurance. Group C (six teams) AIA Insurance, Star Garments, LSEG, CIC Holdings PLC, Pyramid Wilmar and JF & I Packing. 

Group D (six teams) Amana Bank, Future Life Holdings, Ceyline Holdings, Singer Sri Lanka “B”, CBC Finance Limited and IFS R & D International. Group E (seven teams) Wiley Global, Mobitel, Acuity Analytics, Alaris Lanka, Union Bank, IPD Colombo and 99X. Group F (seven teams) Alliance Insurance, DSI, InQube Global, Home Land Group, Swisstek Ceylon, VS Information Systems and Transco International Cargo. Group G (five teams) Coats Thread, Brandix Apparel, Sitecore, Stafford Motor and Millennium IT. 

According to the MCA, there will be match referees for the entire tournament while officiating umpires are assigned by the Association of Cricket Umpires Sri Lanka with official scorers provided by Sri Lanka Cricket Scorers. 

The DLS method will be applied for any interrupted matche to determine results. Grays “Cavalier” white balls, directly imported by the MCA from Pakistan and bearing the MCA logo are provided to teams at cost according to the organisers.

Special tournament awards for the Best Batter, Best Bowler, Player of the Tournament and Player of the Final will be presented. 

In the previous tournament final held on June 21, 2025 at the MCA Ground, HNB Assurance defeated Access Group by 152 runs.