Jaffna-Dambulla match to decide fourth semi-finalist

Kandy captain Kamindu Mendis has been in imperious form scoring 649 runs which is 173 runs more than the next best batsman

 Veteran spinner Malinda Pushpakumara heads the bowling with 18 wickets from 3 matches

National Super League 4-day tournament

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

With Kandy, Colombo and Galle having secured their places in the semi-finals of the National Super League four-day tournament, the fourth and final spot will be fought out between Jaffna and Dambulla when they meet at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium starting tomorrow.

The two teams are separated by a gap of 6.66 points with Jaffna currently placed in fourth position with 19.875 points and Dambulla fifth with 13.215 points. The winner of this contest will join the other three teams who have already qualified.

Jaffna are the current National Super League 50-over champions, but have not been able to replicate that form into the four-day tournament where they have managed first innings points from their first game when they notched up an impressive 555 and dismissed Colombo for 360. But since then their batting has failed to fire, being dismissed for totals of 318, 254 and 224 whilst conceding 503-9 runs to Kandy and 444-9 to Galle.

Dambulla in the meanwhile has finished on the losing side in all their three matches being beaten outright by an innings by Colombo and conceding first innings points to Galle and Kandy in drawn matches. Dambulla failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the National Super League 50-over tournament and look in danger of ending the same way in the four-day tournament as well unless they can uplift their game and come up with do-or-die performance.

The other match scheduled to commence tomorrow at the Galle International Cricket Stadium is between second placed Colombo (39.640) and third placed Galle (32.890). This match is of less significance as both teams are through to the semi-finals and what they will fight for is for the top berth in the league standings which at the moment is occupied by Kandy (42.235) who completed their fixtures last weekend with their third win on first innings against Dambulla. Kandy skipper Kamindu Mendis has been in imperious form in the tournament aggregating 649 runs at an average of 81.12 and has passed the 50-run mark on six occasions out of the eight times he has been to the crease.

It is no surprise that the top four positions in the batting are occupied by Kandy batsmen. Apart from Mendis there is national Test cap Oshada Fernando (476 runs), Sahan Arachchige (363) and Lahiru Udara (343). Spinners occupy the top four slots in the bowling with two left-armers Malinda Pushpakumara (Dambulla) and Prabath Jayasuriya (Colombo) being one-two with 18 and 15 wickets respectively. They are followed by two off-spinners Lakshitha Manasinghe (Colombo) and Chanaka Ruwansiri (Galle) with 12 wickets apiece. Seamers Kasun Rajitha Colombo) and Asitha Fernando (Kandy) occupy the next two positions with 11 wickets each.

All the matches played so far have been competitive and brought out the best from the players keen to catch the national selectors’ eye. It has for instance afforded a player like Kamindu Mendis to put forward his credentials for national recognition and Oshada Fernando, Kasun Rajitha and Asitha Fernando to make a statement to be recalled to the national Test side. 

In the recently concluded Test series against India, Sri Lanka tried out three batsmen for the number three slot – Pathum Nissanka and when he got injured, Lahiru Thirimanne and then Kusal Mendis. Oshada Fernando has been occupying that vital position since he made his debut against South Africa in 2019 until a recent loss of form saw him being left out of the Indian series.   

Following the retirement of Suranga Lakmal from international cricket, Sri Lanka will be hard-pressed to find a quality seamer to fit into his shoes for the number of Test series scheduled to take place during the course of the year. Rajitha who has played in nine Tests and Asitha Fernando three Tests will vie for the slot with Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara and Dushmantha Chameera whenever he is available for red ball cricket.