The Colonel Henry Steel Olcott Memorial Sports Foundation Legends were triumphant at the Bandula Warnapura Memorial Annual T20 Cricket Encounter 2025 regaining the trophy by beating the Mercantile Cricket Association (MCA) Legends team. Played at the MCA Grounds on the 29th of March, the series stands 3 to 1 in favour of the CHSOMSF Team which was skippered by 1996 World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga. A number of renowned cricketers past and present participated in the tournament, which was first played in 2022 and was sponsored by Citizens Development Business Finance PLC (CDB) for the first time this year.

Congratulating both teams as a great example of sportsmanship which CDB has continually encouraged within both its team and among its stakeholders, Chief Sales and Digital Business Officer of CDB Hasitha Dasanayake said, “By sponsoring this T20 tournament named after one of the nation’s most illustrious cricketers and Sri Lanka’s first test captain Bandula Warnapura, CDB augments the value of sportsmanship and the need for teamwork to show results. We are very committed to supporting sports because as a vital extracurricular activity it engages and develops values and principles among youth while also fostering community empowerment. All these elements eventually come together for national progress and holistic development.”

Bandula Warnapura, a right-handed opening batsman and medium pace bowler in a career spanning from 1975 to 1982, besides captaining Sri Lanka’s first test match also had the rare distinctions of facing the first delivery, scoring the first run, opening the bowling and the batting for the second innings. Sri Lanka’s first victory in ODIs was under Warnapura where he scored a half century.

“Warnapura played and triumphed during Sri Lanka cricket’s fledgling years and he proved that with enthusiasm, commitment and sportsmanship, he could shape and mould Sri Lanka’s cricket to what it is today,” adds Dasanayake. “CDB celebrates that commitment among young people and by being a part of this memorial T20 tournament, we take heart that more Sri Lankan youth will be instilled with those indelible values that will influence their career trajectories and personal aspirations.”