Wayamba waste no time
The Sri Lankan Twenty20 (T20) champions, the Wayamba Elevens, landed in Johannesburg on Sunday morning and by the afternoon were having their first practice in preparation for the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20), which starts at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Friday evening.
For a list of the home venues, click here.
“We’ve been training really hard for this tournament,” said captain Jehan Mubarak. “We’ve been preparing in Colombo for nearly three months, and we’re looking forward to the tournament starting.”
Wayamba are among only three teams who played in the inaugural CLT20 in India last year, and Mubarak believes the new format will give teams a better opportunity to shine .
“Last year, we only played two matches in the league section. We won one and lost one, but could not go further because of our net run rate. But this time, we have four league matches and that gives us more opportunities to shine. Also, we are one of the few teams that has played CLT20 before, and that experience will be to our benefit.”
He believed the two South African teams – the Bizhub Highveld Lions and the Chevrolet Warriors – had a slight advantage because they were playing at home, but the unpredictability of T20 cricket meant that advantage could easily be overcome.
“You just have to make one or two mistakes, and everything can go wrong after that,” said Mubarak.
DIFFERENT APPROACH
Veteran Sri Lankan international Mahela Jayawardene, who is likely to be the backbone of the batting line-up, said he enjoyed the challenge of playing in the CLT20.
“For someone like me, who plays all forms of the game, and at all levels, this is something new. We don’t know the provincial teams from the various countries – we are more used to playing the national teams – and the provincial teams often have a very different approach. This tournament brings something new to the game of cricket, just as the Uefa Champions League has brought new dimensions to soccer.”
Asked about Muttiah Muralitharan, who retired from international cricket on a high earlier this year, finishing his career with 800 test wickets, Jayawardene said he was looking forward to playing against his former teammate, who will be turning out for the Chennai Super Kings.
“He’s been saying some things about his plans for us, so we’re looking forward to taking him on,” laughed Jayawardene.
“He’s a very tough competitor, but we will enjoy the contest. He’s been a legend in the game – he’s had a phenomenal career. I think he’s happy to play the shorter format, because there’s less pressure, and he deserves that. But it will be interesting to see how we go against him.”
Wayamba will play practice matches against the Nashua Titans and the South Australian Redbacks at Centurion on Monday and Tuesday respectively. Their first official match in the CLT20 is against the Warriors at 1.30pm on Saturday September 11.
The CLT20 extravaganza, which features 23 matches over 17 days, runs from September 10 to September 26.
Tickets are available from Computicket. Tickets are priced from R30 to R200. Fans can also purchase tickets directly from the host venues.
