By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

The SLC Skyexch Invitational T20 League tournament conducted by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) as a forerunner to selections for the Asia Cup and later for the ICC T20 World Cup is intriguingly poised going into the final day of the league round.

Today’s two double-header matches start off with the two bottom of the table teams SLC Greens against SLC Greys at 3 p.m. at the R. Premadasa Stadium. On current form Greens are expected to triumph over Greys who are without a single win in the League.

Greys has been the weaker of the four sides participating because they comprise largely of players who have performed well in the domestic circuit and do not have that added edge of international experience on their side unlike the other three teams. Their totals of 120-9 and 115-9 are testimony to this fact. These are not totals which any bowling side can easily defend, and unless Greys come up with something beyond the 150-run mark they are bound to suffer the same fate against Greens. 

Greens on the other hand if they win will tie for second place in the league standings. It could turn out to be a three-way tussle if SLC Reds defeat table toppers SLC Blues in the second double header match due to commence at 7:30 p.m.

In the event of that happening, Blues, Reds and Greens will all have four points apiece and the net run rate will decide on the top two teams that will go through to play in the final on Monday.

If Blues win they will go through to the final with Greens. By some chance if Greens and Reds both lose it will become a three-way tussle with Greys for the second spot, as all three teams will have two points each, and once again the net run rate will decide the fate of the teams.

More than the results of who wins the league, the national selectors’ focus will be on the individual performances of the players whom they want to pick for the Asia Cup which commences later this month in the UAE. How Sri Lanka perform in the Asia Cup will give an indication of well they are prepared for the T20 World Cup in Australia two months later.

Going by individual performances so far there is not much for the selectors to chew by way of batting because only two batsmen have crossed the 50-run mark, and one of them is Niroshan Dickwella, the Sri Lanka Test wicket-keeper/batsman, who has been surprisingly side-lined from white ball cricket and the glove-work handed to Kusal Mendis. 

Dickwella’s presence in the team need not always mean that he should keep wickets, but his aggressive approach as an opener should be viewed with an open mind. Dismissed for a duck in the first match Dickwella made amends in the second by carrying his bat out for 76* against the star-studded Reds to give Greens their first win. 

Lasith Croospulle is the other batter to make a 50 in the league scoring 54 in the opening match against Greys and following it up with 31 against Greens. Opening the batting with his Reds captain Kusal Mendis has certainly helped Croospulle, naturally a fast scorer in any format, to go for his shots confidently. He has figured in two fruitful opening stands with Mendis of 88 and 61 in the two matches played so far.

In the bowling front fast bowler Asitha Fernando who has excelled in Test cricket is making a strong claim for inclusion in white ball cricket. In his short career Fernando has played only four ODIs and has yet to appear in a T20I. 

The ongoing league has afforded him an opportunity to press his claims for a T20 place having impressed in the first two matches he’s played for Reds with figures of 4/22 and 2/32, making him the leading wicket-taker.

Another fast bowler who caught the eye with his speed and accuracy is the Greys’ tall six-footer Milan Ratnayake who rattled the Blues batting with three wickets, before they achieved victory. Amongst the spinners, Praveen Jayawickrama and Jeffrey Vandersay have been very economical conceding less than four runs per over ahead of established T20I bowlers Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana who have not quite come to the party yet.

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