Evenly balanced teams battle in final
Chris Dhambarage
Two equally good teams Bloomfield and Tamil Union will clash in the
Sri Lanka Cricket organised Coca Cola Premier limited overs tournament
final at the R. Premadasa Stadium today.
Both teams have experienced mixed fortunes on their way into the
final but are confident following their success in the two semifinals.
In fact Bloomfield produced a fine performance to beat the giant killers
Chilaw Marians SC in the first semifinal while Tamil Union had the
better of NCC by 36 runs.
Bloomfield finished on top of the points table at the completion of
the preliminary round with a total of eight victories and one loss from
ten outings. Their solitary defeat came at the hands of Colts CC during
the latter stages of the tournament.
Tamil Union were placed second in the points table with a total of
seven victories and two defeats from their ten outings. They suffered
two defeats at the hands of Colts CC by four wickets and Chilaw Marians
SC by 21 runs.
The final is of great significance considering the fact that the
clash between the two teams in the preliminary round tournament did not
materialise and was abandoned due to bad weather.
The good news for Tamil Union is the return of the champion off
spinner Muttiah Muralitharan who is set to play only his second match of
the tournament according to their assistant coach Trishen Nonis. The new
vice captain of the Sri Lanka team will spearhead the Tamil Union
bowling attack along with Isuru Udana (18 wickets) and Suranga Lakmal
(14 wickets). The Tamil Union batting will revolve around Gihan
Rupasinghe (292 runs), Ashan Priyanjan (283 runs) and skipper
Muthumudalige Pushpakumara (253 runs).
Bloomfield of course have a strong team on paper and will be boosted
with the return of dashing middle order batsman Tillekeratne Dilshan who
will lead the side. He will also have the services of all rounder
Chinthaka Jayasinghe who has scored 335 runs with three fifties and
captured 19 wickets.
The other top run getters in the Bloomfield side are Chamara Silva
who has a tally of 375 inclusive of four half centuries and Saman
Jayantha 343 runs with three fifties.
The champions will receive a cash award of Rs. 750,000 and the
runners up will receive Rs. 500,000. In addition special awards will be
presented to the Best Batsman, Best Bowler, Man of the Match and Player
of the Series.
The teams.
Tamil Union (from): Muthumudalige Pushpakumara (captain), Gihan de
Silva, Muttiah Muralitharan, Suranga Lakmal, Sajith Fernando, Sachithra
Serasinghe, Ashan Priyanjan, Jeewan Mendis, Gihan Rupasinghe, Lanka de
Silva, Isuru Udana, Madawa Perera, Malinga Surappulige, Anton de Livera,
Sanjeewa Chaturanga, Viraj Perera and Pubudu Chandrasekera.
Bloomfield (from): Tillekeratne Dilshan (captain), Shanuka
Dissanayake, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tharanga Lakshitha, Saman Jayantha,
Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Anoj Ketapearachchi, Ranga Dias, Prasanna
Jayawardena, Chamara Silva, S. Mendis Suraj Mohamed, Nuwan Pradeep,
Sanjaya Gangodawila, Tharaka Gunaratne and Thilina Masmulla. |