Ruhunu-Wayamba clash the key game today

Chris DHAMBARAGE

The unbeaten Ruhuna Province team will face a tough task when they take on Wayamba Province in a key Inter Provincial limited overs cricket tournament match at the Welagedera Stadium in Kurunegala today.

The star studded Ruhuna team has taken an early lead in the points table following back to back victories against the SLC Combined XI and Basnahira North teams respectively.

However this time they will be up against a more formidable line up and will need to come out with their best performance to keep their unbeaten record intact. Wayamba Province of course had a shock start to their campaign while going down to Basnahira South by 18 runs in their opening fixture of the tournament at the same venue.

But they bounced back magnificently and had the better of the SLC Combined XI by a convincing margin of 85 runs in their previous outing at the Colts CC ground on Tuesday.

Wayamba captained by former Sri Lanka all rounder Jehan Mubarak will be looking for a repeat performance with dashing opener Jeewantha Kulatunga as their key player. The dynamic all rounder hammered a run a ball century in the previous outing and look set to continue his outstanding form with the bat.

Even then Wayamba will be up against the lightening pace of Lasith Malinga who signalled his entry into competitive cricket with a sensational spell of bowling in their opening encounter against the SLC Combined XI at the Galle Stadium.

Malinga snapped up four wickets for 21 to skittle out the opposition for just 102 runs from 27.3 overs. Ruhuna will also be banking on their openers skipper Upul Tharanga and veteran Sanath Jayasuriya for another perfect start with Indika de Saram also in tremendous form.

Meanwhile MAS Kandurata Province who is currently placed second in the points table will be hoping to consolidate their position when they take on the SLC Combined XI in another Inter Provincial limited overs tournament match at the NCC ground in Maitland Place today.

Kandurata led by Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara have made a good start to their campaign with two successive victories against Basnahira North and Basnahira South respectively. They were hardly challenged in the two outings and look set to pull off another comfortable victory.

In fact in the previous outing against Basnahira South they were able to score over three hundred runs following some splendid contributions from Kaushalya Weeraratne, Tharanga Paranavithana, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Kapugedera and Chinthaka Jayasinghe.

Basnahira South will take on Basnahira North in another game of cricket in the same tournament at Moratuwa today.

Both teams are struggling to be in contention for the semifinals after having failed to make an impact in their opening two matches. Basnahira South of course had the satisfaction of recording an upset victory over Wayamba in their opening game but suffered a 97 run defeat at the hands of Kandurata in their previous outing.

In contrast Basnahira North is yet to make their presence felt having lost both games against Kandurata and Ruhuna respectively.

The teams:

Basnahira North: Thilina Kandamby (captain), Angelo Mathews (vice captain), Chaminda Vaas, Amal Athulathmudali, Dilshan Munaweera, Gayan Wijekoon, Sachithra Serasinghe, Kaushal Silva, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Shanuka Dissanayake, Nuwan Kulasekera, Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Darshanpriya, Roshen Silva, Sohan Boralessa, Angelo Perera.

Basnahira South: Tillekeratne Dilshan (captain), Chamara Silva (vice captain), Malintha Warnapura, Milinda Siriwardena, Hasantha Fernando, Gihan Rupasinghe, Prasanna Jayawardena, Nuwan Zoysa, Malinga Bandara, Suranga Lakmal, Janaka Gunaratne, Dilruwan Perera, Lahiru Thirimanna, Amila Prasad, Chinthaka Perera, Dinuk Hettiarachchi, Yohan de Silva, Ruchira Perera,

Ruhuna Province: Upul Tharanga (captain), Dinesh Chandimal (vice captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Indika de Saram, Tillekeratne Sampath, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Kosala Kulasekera, Tharaga Lakshitha, Lasith Malinga, Sujeewa de Silva, Harsha Cooray, Sachithra Senanayake, Ashan Priyanjana, Gihan de Silva, Sajeewa Weerakoon, Lasith Fernando, Geeth de Alwis, Umesh Karunaratne.

Wayamba Province: Jehan Mubarak (captain), Mahela Udawatte (vice captain), Jeevantha Kulatunga, Farveez Maharoof, Thisara Perera, Sameera Soysa, Ajantha Mendis, Shalika Karunanayake, Isuru Udana, Rakitha Wimaladharma, Chanaka Welagedera, Rangana Herath, Kaushalya Lokuarachchi, Michael van Dort, Madura Lakmal, Damitha Hunukumbura, Kusal Perera.

Kandurata Province: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Muttiah Muralitharan (vice captain), Chamara Kapugedera, Suraj Randiv, Kanchana Gunawardena, Sanjaya Gangodawila, Jeewan Mendis, Tharanga Paranavithana, Kaushal Weeraratne, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Thilina Thushara, Nadeera Nawala, Chaminda Vidanapathirana, Kanishka Elvitigala, Seekuge Prasanna, Thilan Samaraweera, Sachith Pathirana, Suresh Niroshan.

Combined XI: Hans Fernando (captain), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (vice captain), Kithruwan Vithanage, Udara Jayasundera, Romesh Buddhika, W.A. Eranga, J.R.G. Namal, Sanjaya Fernando, Imesh Udayanga, Malinga Pushpakumara, Andri Berenger, Charith Jayampathy, Lahiru Gamage, Arosh Janoda, Nilanka Premaratne.

The Inter Provincial Tournament Points Table

Teams 		Mat 	Won 	Lost 	Pts 	NRR
Ruhuna 		2 	2 	0 	10 	+3.170
Kandurata 	2 	2 	0 	10 	+1.490
Wayamba 	2 	1 	1 	5 	+0.670
Basnahira South 2 	1 	1 	4 	-0.780 
Basnahira North 2 	0 	2 	0 	-1.780
SLC Combined XI 2 	0 	2 	0 	-2.760