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Kandy Falcons have been well served by overseas West Indies recruits Andre Fletcher and Carlos Brathwaite, and Oshane Thomas
Asitha Fernando and Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sadeera Samarawickrama have been the mainstays of Jaffna Kings’ batting
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
The Lanka Premier League 3 enters the play-off stages from today with a double-header at the R. Premadasa Stadium where the top two teams in the league Kandy Falcons and Jaffna Kings play in Qualifier 1 commencing 3 p.m., and the third and fourth teams Colombo Stars and Galle Gladiators play in the Eliminator commencing at 7:30 p.m.
In the first game what Kandy and Jaffna will be trying to avoid is defeat. The winner gains straight entry into the final on 23 December. However, the loser although he is not eliminated, still has a chance to qualify for the final but will have to play three matches in a row on successive days.
“It’s very important that we win today because we go straight into the final. If we lose, we have to play three games in a row. We’ll go 100 percent to win the game,” said Jaffna Kings head coach Thilina Kandamby.
Jaffna in fact have a score to settle with Kandy having lost the two league games to them and will be determined to put the record right.
“In both the games we gave a good fight. We couldn’t score enough runs that was the issue. That’s a particular area which we need to rectify in tomorrow’s game,” said Kandamby. “Anything above 160 is reasonable, we have the bowling to defend that kind of total. If we bowl first, we have to keep them under 160. Twenty runs make a big difference between 160 and 180.”
In the first match Jaffna scored 147-7 and lost by three wickets off the last ball, and in the second match chasing a target of 161 they fell short by 10 runs scoring 150-9.
Kandamby said whether batting first or second at the R Premadasa Stadium does not make much of a difference because it’s a day game and the surfaces are generally good for batting.
“In the first game we played here we batted first and put runs on the board and won. Yesterday (Monday) we chased and won.”
Jaffna who rested a few players during the league stages will be at full strength for this crucial match. A big plus factor for them has been the drafting of Bangladesh’s highly talented young batsman Afif Hossain who has replaced Tom Kohler-Cadmore in the squad.
“Afif has been playing in T20 cricket especially in the LPL and the international arena. Kohler-Cadmore was ruled out because of injury so we thought of getting a left-hander because we have five right-handers in a row. We thought that Afif is the most suitable player and he proved that in the first game he played,” said Kandamby. Afif made a memorable LPL debut with a 35-ball half-century against Galle Gladiators.
Asked whether Jaffna needs to brush up any areas before today’s crucial game, Kandamby replied: “Not really, we don’t have time for that, it’s all about managing them and the mental guidance.”
Kandy head coach Piyal Wijetunge was of the view that today’s match was more important than the final.
“We’ve got two chances but we don’t want to take a chance, we want to win the first game and make sure we are in the final,” said Wijetunge. “The most important game of the tournament is tomorrow. It is much more important than the final.”
Wijetunge said the presence of former Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya as a mentor to the team has made a huge impact.
“Sanath has been sharing his experience with the players. He has played the game at the highest level and he is a legend. Even for me I am sharing everything with him.”
The captaincy of Wanindu Hasaranga has been an inspiration to the Kandy side.
“To be frank I never thought that he is so good,” said Wijetunge. “He has never captained before at this level. It is a new role and the decision’s he has been making in the middle has been really good. He is in the making of a good captain. He has played so much of franchise cricket outside Sri Lanka and it has changed him a lot. In my opinion of all the Sri Lankans Wanindu is the no. 1 T20 cricketer in the country right now.”
In the second double-header Colombo who finished third in the league will take on fourth placed Galle Gladiators in the Eliminator. The winner will play the loser of Qualifier 1 in Qualifier 2 tomorrow, while the loser will be knocked out of the tournament.
The Play-Offs at a glance
