It’s Kandy batting v Jaffna’s spin

Kandy captain Kamindu Mendis and Jaffna captain Dhananjaya de Silva fist bump in front of the NSL 4-day trophy 

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

It will be a repeat of the National Super League 50-over final when Kandy meets Jaffna in the NSL 4-day final commencing at the Galle International Cricket Stadium today.

The battle will be between Kandy’s batting against Jaffna’s spinners on a track that is renowned to help spin.

High riding Kandy will be banking on their top order batsmen to deliver in the final against an opponent whom they have already had success against in the league stage. In a high scoring game that ended in a draw at Pallekele, Jaffna rattled off a massive 503-9 decl. and 322-5 decl. and dismissed Jaffna for 318.

But Kandy’s head coach Malinda Warnapura is aware that the conditions and wicket could be different in the final. 

“We won against them in Pallekele, the issue we have is that we are playing the final in Galle and it can be a different wicket. If the wicket is not going to do something special, we will have a very good chance of winning the final,” said Warnapura. 

“The strength of our bowling has actually been the fast bowling of Asitha Fernando who has taken 15 wickets in the tournament. I’ve seen something extra from him. When you look at the other fast bowlers in the tournament, he has been outstanding. Whenever you need him, he is there to deliver. In the last game he got Angelo Mathews out first ball and then rapped (Dinesh) Chandimal on his finger forcing him to retire hurt. Whatever we planned he is able to execute in the middle in different ways.”

For today’s final Warnapura said that their bowling will be strengthened with the return of Sri Lanka’s main left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya who will form a spin combination with Ashian Daniel’s off-breaks.

Kandy’s forte has been their batting with the top three positions being occupied by their batsmen. Skipper Kamindu Mendis has been in stupendous form aggregating nearly 800 runs (799) from five matches and averaging nearly 80 with four centuries and three fifties from 10 innings. Following him is national Test cap Oshada Fernando with 603 runs (avg. 75.37) with three centuries and three fifties, and Lahiru Udara with 462 runs (avg. 51.33) with five fifties. There is also Sahan Arachchige in the first 10 of the batting with 372 runs (avg. 46.50).  

“Our strength has been our batting that has taken us to the final. We were actually lacking an opening bat to get a big score. Kamil Mishara scored 63 in the last game and I hope he will come out strong. When you have four batters leading the batting with big scores and have very good partnerships going, I am confident these guys will come right,” said Warnapura.

Speaking on the exceptional batting of team captain Kamindu Mendis, Warnapura said: “He is just 24 and the way he came to this tournament is totally different, his approach, temperament and the ability to play long innings. Not only for him but for the team he has come out with some match winning performances as a captain. The way he is playing the game in the middle he is far away from most of the other players in the tournament. He is making everyone very comfortable in the middle.”

“Kamindu played in T20I and ODIs for Sri Lanka and sometimes people tend to make him a white ball cricketer. When he came to this 4-day tournament he was totally a different player. He wanted to do something different and show that he is a red ball cricketer as well. Some people find it difficult to adjust but from the first game we played against Galle he showed a different calibre.”

Jaffna does not possess the batting firepower that Kandy has but they prefer to go into the final as underdogs, a tag that suited them well in the NSL 50-over final where they beat favourites Kandy by 37 runs to win the title.

Jaffna’s road to the final has been an unstable one barely managing to qualify for the knockout stage with a first innings win over Dambulla that ensured they finished fourth in the league standings. But since then, they have lifted their game to beat Colombo by nine wickets in the semi-finals even though they lost the services of their key fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep who has been ruled out of today’s final.

“Nuwan suffered a concussion while batting in the semi-final against Colombo and the doctor has advised him to rest. While batting, he tried to go for a single and dived and the throw hit his neck and he was concussed. Even his hamstring is not 100% and he has been sent home. Shiran Fernando has come in as his replacement to the squad. Nuwan’s absence is a big loss for us because he was taking a lot of wickets,” said Kandamby.

However, the injury to Pradeep allowed Jaffna to have a concussion substitute and his presence eventually paid off.

“The replacement, Nipun Malinga, another fast bowler, his highest score was 14*. In this game he scored 80 batting at No. 11. That was a turning point of the game. After Malinga’s innings Colombo’s focus went elsewhere and our bowlers did really well in the third innings and we were able to win,” Kandamby said.

Speaking of their up-and-down performance Kandamby said: “Even in the 50-over tournament we had similar issues. We were the underdogs, so it’s the same scenario. Kandy has a super side with most of their top order batters scoring runs in every game and they have been very consistent. It’s not going to be an easy task but I am sure we have good fighters on our side so we will do something.”

Kandamby said a long innings from the captain Dhananjaya de Silva was overdue and he hoped that he could produce it in the final. “We have a good spin attack with Dilum Sudeera, Jeffrey Vandersay and Dunith Wellalage who joined us after the school game. The spin department is very good.”

Kandy is making one change from the team that played in the semi-finals replacing Thikshila de Silva with Pulina Tharanga, while Jaffna will decide between spin all-rounder Geeth Kumara and fast bowler Shiran Fernando.

The winning team will receive a cheque for Rs. 5 million and the runner-up Rs. 2.5 million. There are also individual awards of Rs. 500,000 for Player of the Tournament, and Rs. 250,000 each for Best Batsman and Best Bowler.