Combined Province take on Kandurata

The Combined Province team will come out for the first time when they take on Kandurata Province in their Inter Provincial Twenty20 cricket tournament match at the R. Premadasa Stadium today.

The Combined Province team will be captained by Sri Lanka all rounder Jeewan Mendis who had a successful one day international series against England which concluded recently.

The presence of star all rounder Angelo Mathews will be an added advantage for the Combined Province team who will be looking to make a winning start to their campaign.

Vice captain Nuwan Kulasekera, Sachith Pathirana, Isuru Udana and Ashan Priyanjana are the other senior players in the team while among the youngsters Kithruwan Vithanage, Dhanushka Gunatilleke and Gihan Rupasinghe will be hoping to put up a good performance.

Kandurata Province of course are in a must win situation following their shock 40 run defeat at the hands of Ruhuna Province in their opening fixture of the tournament played earlier.

They will be looking to produce an improved batting performance after their top order collapsed in that match and were restricted to 114 for 7 from their 20 overs while chasing a target of 154 runs.

They certainly have the batting power to chase down any target with players in the caliber of Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Kapugedera, Tharanga Paranavithana and all rounder Farveez Maharoof in their ranks. Meanwhile the two unbeaten teams Wayamba Province and Ruhuna Province will clash in the second match of the day at the same venue commencing at 2.30 p.m. Wayamba Province of course were fortunate to win their contest against Basnahira Province in a bowl out after their opening match of the tournament was washed out due to bad weather.

In contrast Ruhuna Province will be more confident and will be looking to register their second successive victory following their success against Kandurata Province.

Their key player will be in form batsman Dinesh Chandimal who hammered the first half century of the tournament from just 53 deliveries.