E Wis Basnahira North confident of making it to the final

Chris Dhambarage

E Wis Basnahira North with a star studded batting line up are confident of making into the final of the inaugural SLT Inter Provincial Twenty20 limited overs cricket tournament which gets underway on April 17 in Colombo.

The team will be captained by Thilina Kandamby in the absence of veteran paceman Chaminda Vaas who will be involved in the high profile Indian Premier League together with dashing opening batsman Avishka Gunawardena.

However E Wis Basnahira North have found some good replacements and they are all geared up to prove themselves with most of them having excelled in the Premier League tournament.

The batting will be spearheaded by skipper Thilina Kandamby who played a sterling role in piloting SSC towards victory in the recently concluded SLC Premier League four day Tier A tournament.

In fact Kandamby emerged as the second highest run getter in that tournament with a tally of 822 runs from nine outings including three hundreds and two half centuries. He was also one of the double centurions for his club having hit a magnificent knock of 202.

Another top batsman in the E Wis Basnahira North line up is Gayan Wijekoon who is fresh after a successful Premier League tournament series where he piled up a total of 754 runs from nine outings for the champion SSC outfit.

Wijekoon who notched up two centuries and four half centuries in that tournament will be hoping to continue with that same form with the bat. Wicket keeper batsman Kaushal Silva is another key player in the E Wis Basnahira North side having made his presence felt for SSC during the Premier League tournament.

Silva is capable of making useful contributions in the middle order and also had an outstanding Premier League tournament where he held on to 32 victims behind the stumps which included 27 catches and five stumpings.

The presence of dynamic all rounder Angelo Mathews will be another big advantage for E Wis Basnahira North. Mathews seem to be in good form with the bat having made 696 runs while representing Colts Cricket Club in the recently concluded Premier League tournament.

Mathews certainly proved his class with the bat scoring two centuries and five half centuries while averaging well over fifty runs from nine matches. Muthumudalige Pushpakumara is another genuine all rounder who could play a dominant role with both bat and ball.

He was one of the star players to emerge from the Premier League tournament where he scored nearly six hundred runs including one century and four fifties and captured 34 wickets at an average of 24.02.

The bowling will be spearheaded by spinner Shanuka Dissanayake who picked up 33 wickets for Bloomfield in the Premier League tournament. Together with Muthumudalige Pushpakumara they are certain to form an effective combination in this tournament.

In addition Nuwan Kulasekera, Dhammika Prasad and Lassana Dias will also form a three pronged pace attack. The former of course will miss the opening two games as he will be on national duty with the Sri Lanka one day squad in the West Indies.

The E Wis Basnahira North team (from): Thilina Kandamby (captain), Angelo Mathews (vice captain), Shantha Kalawitigoda, Dushantha Ranatunga, Malintha Gajanayake, Gayan Wijekoon, Kaushal Silva, Danuka Pathirana, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Shanuka Dissanayake, Nuwan Kulasekera, Dhammika Prasad, Lassana Dias, Amal Athulathmudali and Chinthaka Perera. Coach: Rohitha Perera/Keerthi Gunaratne. Manager: Anura de Silva.

The fixture for E Wis Basnahira North: April 17: v Lanka Bell Wayamba at Colts, April 18: v Lexmark Basnahira South at Premadasa Stadium, April 21: v Schools Invitation XI at Premadasa Stadium, April 23: v MAS Kandurata at Colts, April 24: v Hirdaramani Ruhuna at Colts.