Defending champs Dambulla take on high-riding Colombo

Jaffna who lost their opening match of the National Super League 50-over tournament to Colombo by three wickets, despite running up an impressive score of 310-6 at Rangiri Dambulla Stadium, get another opportunity to redress that result when they meet Kandy at the same venue today.

Kandy secured an impressive eight-wicket win against Galle in their first match played at Pallekele last week and will be keen to extend that run further against Jaffna. Kandy will be captained by former Sri Lanka wicket-keeper/batsman Niroshan Dickwella in the absence of Pathum Nissanka (injured) while Jaffna will be led by Sadeera Samarawickrama.

In comparison to the Dambulla pitch that produced a grand total of 622 runs last week, Pallekele was a low scoring game with Galle being rolled over for 146 and Kandy knocking the runs off in 24 overs. The pitch suited the fast bowlers with Chamika Gunasekara and Lahiru Kumara making the most of it by taking five wickets between them.

Dambulla Stadium which produced over 400 runs in the third T20I between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan continued to be a batsman’s paradise as Jaffna with contributions of 108* and 86 by Nipun Karunanayake and Hasitha Boyagoda respectively piled up 310-6, only to see it overtaken with 15 balls to spare by Colombo for whom Ashen Bandara hit an impressive 80* off 66 balls coupled with fifties from Nuwanidu Fernando (61) and Vishad Randika (54).

Colombo after their successful run chase against Jaffna travel to Pallekele where they meet defending champions Dambulla who come out for the first time. Wanindu Hasaranga, the Sri Lanka T20I captain leads Dambulla on the back of a two-match ICC ban after his misconduct during the third T20I against Afghanistan. Kusal Mendis, the Sri Lanka ODI captain leads Colombo.

Virtually all the national white ball cricketers are expected back following the conclusion of the series against Afghanistan thereby intensifying the competition amongst the five teams. The teams are loaded with national caps and players on the fringe of receiving one as the national selectors will be using the tournament to pick the Sri Lanka teams for the T20I and ODI series against Bangladesh starting next month.

 (ST)