da aposte e ganhe： Having outplayed the Kenyans in the longer version of the game – thefour-day unofficial tests, Sri Lanka ‘A’ are gearing up to face Kenya in aseries of three unofficial one-day internationals beginning at theWelagedera Stadium here tomorrow
CricInfo19-Feb-2002Having outplayed the Kenyans in the longer version of the game – thefour-day unofficial tests, Sri Lanka ‘A’ are gearing up to face Kenya in aseries of three unofficial one-day internationals beginning at theWelagedera Stadium here tomorrow.Sri Lanka ‘A’ coach and manager Roshan Mahanama is keen to strike firstblood and main Sri Lanka’s dominance over the tourists.”The first game of any series is important and we won’t be taking theKenyans lightly,” said Mahanama. “It is important that we continue toperform well as a team.”The overs game is something which the Kenyans are quite familiar with andthey are quite capable of giving Sri Lanka ‘A’ a good run, provided they canovercome the disappointment of their 3-0 whitewash in the ‘Test’ series andtheir batting, their strongest department, clicks.”The one-day version suits the boys more, it is just that they should gettheir disappointment out and start afresh. We have played a lot more one-daycricket and we are going to regroup ourselves, get the disappointment of thestring of defeats and rethink for a start of a new series,” said Kenyan teammanager Harilal Shah.One player whom the Kenyans will miss a lot is Thomas Odoyo who was forcedto return home due to a hamstring injury on his right leg.”We will miss him very much because he is a very powerful hitter of the balland he is a good bowler.quite quick. Odoyo recently went to South Africa forthe triangular between Kenya, India and South Africa and he ranked among thevery higher echelons of cricketers with ICC’s high performance manager BobWoolmer (the former England player and SouthAfrican coach),” said Shah.”We’ll miss Odoyo, but some players will have to play better thanthemselves, to compensate for his loss,” he said.>From the Sri Lanka ‘A’ squad of 14, batsman Anushka Polonowita and fastbowler Kaushalya Weeraratne are unlikely to play leaving the only change inthe side to be decided between left-arm spinners Rangana Herath and SajeewaWeerakoon. Herath with his experience will probably get the nod.Fast bowler Dulip Liyanage and all-rounder Gayan Wijekoon are likely to gettheir first game against the tourists. The rest of the squad figured in therecently concluded ‘Test’ series.Kenya will be hoping their captain Maurice Odumbe will strike form in thisseries. He managed only 72 runs in six innings in the ‘Test’ series gettingout on the last four occasions to his vis-à-vis Upul Chandana.They have a complement of 15 players to select their final 11.The pitch at Welagedera Stadium is generally slow and tends to keep low,which may not be the ideal one for a one-day game.The second game is scheduled for Saturday at De Soysa Stadium, Moratuwa andthe final one on Monday at the NCC grounds.SRI LANKA ‘A’ (from):Upul Chandana (captain), Avishka Gunawardana, Upekha Fernando, TillekeratneDilshan, Chamara Silva, Prasanna Jayawardene, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara,Rangana Herath, Pulasthi Gunaratne, Dulip Liyanage, Gayan Wijekoon, SajeewaWeerakoon, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Anushka Polonowita.KENYA (from):Maurice Odumbe (captain), Kennedy Otieno, Ravindu Shah, Steve Tikolo, HiteshModi, Otieno Suji, Collins Obuya, Lamech Onyango, Martin Suji, Brijal Patel,Joseph Angara, Josphat Sorengo, David Obuya, Thomas Odoyo, Mohammad Sheikh.UMPIRES: Gamini Silva and Jagath Nandakumara, Match Referee: Ashley deSilva.