National white ball cricketers take break from NSL 50-over

The absence of national white ball players has not been lost in the NSL 50-over tournament with several matches ending in close finishes

• Following back to back series against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan

Dambulla who began their defence of the National Super League 50-over title with a win over Colombo on Monday have an excellent opportunity of climbing to the top of table when they meet bottom of the table Galle at the same venue – Pallekele Cricket Stadium today.

Both teams have played only one match each. While Dambulla began with a win, Galle on the other hand suffered an eight-wicket loss to Kandy in their opening game played at this venue where they were bundled out for 146.

The other match today is between table toppers Kandy and Colombo at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium. A high scoring game is on the cards here as the Dambulla venue has proven to be a haven for batsmen with the two matches played there so far producing four totals in excess of 300.

Kandy who lost to Jaffna on Monday despite piling up 359-7, will be looking to redeem themselves against Colombo who were soundly beaten by Dambulla.

So far in the tournament only a handful of the national cricketers who figured in the recent white ball series against Afghanistan have turned up to represent their respective teams – Dhananjaya de Silva, Asitha Fernando, Avishka Fernando, Janith Liyanage, Pramod Madushan, and Dunith Wellalage.

The rest of the players are taking a break before the white ball series against Bangladesh next month after playing back to back white ball matches against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.

The five teams in the absence of the appointed captains – Kusal Mendis (Colombo), Sadeera Samarawickrama (Jaffna), Pathum Nissanka (Kandy), Ramesh Mendis (Galle), and Wanindu Hasaranga (Dambulla) have been represented in the tournament by Avishka Fernando (Colombo), Janith Liyanage (Jaffna), Niroshan Dickwella (Kandy), Dunith Wellalage (Galle) and Dhananjaya de Silva (Dambulla).

However, with the Sri Lanka T20I team leaving for Bangladesh today to play in a three-match series starting on 4 March at Sylhet, several of these players who are in the T20I squad will not be available to lead the sides today.

The absence of the national white ball cricketers has however not affected the intensity of the competition for apart from the opening fixture between Kandy and Galle, the other three games played so far have proved to be rather competitive and pretty close contests. 

– (ST)