Kandy and Galle face off in the do-die clash of the Sri Lanka T20 League. Both sides are winless in the tournament after playing two matches.
Match Timings: Nov 30, 8 PM (IST)
Match Preview
Two bottom sides of the Sri Lanka T20 League would battle out in the second doubleheader on Monday. Starting with the heartbreak in the super over against Colombo, Kandy also lost to Dambulla in a rain-affected affair. Chasing the target of 196, Kandy was struggling at 84/3 when the rain played the spoilsport, and later, they lost this match by 4 runs (D/L method). The luck is not in favour of Kandy as they slipped at the last moment, and now, they occupy the second spot from the bottom. Gurbaz and Kusal Perera are the key figures for Kandy as they rely more on batting. In both matches, the Kusal Perera-led side showed mediocre bowling, conceding 219 and 195 against Colombo and Dambulla.
Meanwhile, Galle’s story is way similar to Kandy's as they’re also winless in the tournament, and due to poor NRR, they take the bottom spot in the table. In the first game, vintage Afridi fired with a cracking fifty, but Jaffna chased down the target with 8 wickets in hand. In the second game, Andre Russell’s one-man show smashed Galle out of the park. Bowling is a big issue for Galle, but its batsman does not deliver much considering the pitch’s behavior and it becomes a heavy task for bowlers. Hambantota is a high-scoring ground, and Galle needs to adapt the hard-hitting formula until the track favours spin later in the tournament. Lack of a proper finisher, the Afridi-led side is losing its games convincingly. It’s not a long tournament like the Indian T20 League. To finish in the top four shouldn’t be a hefty task in Sri Lanka T20 League, and they would indeed find some relief on Monday night.
Pitch Report
Rajapaksha Stadium is a pure batting paradise, and due to rains in the last two days, pacers can take advantage in early half-an-hour but still, it’s a batsman’s pitch. Pitch will get slow later this week after back-to-back matches, but it will be another high-scoring affair on Monday.
Possible Lineups
Galle
Danushka Gunathilaka, Hazratullah Zazai, Azam Khan (wk), Dhananjaya Lakshan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Milinda Siriwardana, Shahid Afridi (c), Shehan Jayasuriya, Mohamed Shiraz, Mohammad Amir, Asitha Fernando
Kandy
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Kusal Perera (c & wk), Kusal Mendis, Asela Gunaratne, Priyamal Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Dilruwan Perera, Kamindu Mendis, Nuwan Pradeep, Naveen-ul-Haq, Kaveeshka Anjula
Key Players
Galle
Hazratullah Zazai
Shpageeza T20 League 2020 – M: 7, Runs: 180, SR: 132.35
Lakshan Sandakan
In T20Is – M: 17, Wickets: 17, Avg: 28.82
Kandy
Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Previous outings – 53 (22), 30 (18)
Kusal Perera
Previous outings – 87(52), 4 (2)
