SLPL good preparation for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 T20 World Cup: Lasith Malinga – Cricket News Update
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 Premier League’s Ruhuna Royals team, is of the view that the T20 tournament will serve as good preparation for the Lankan players, as they gear up for the ICC World Twenty20 they will be hosting
in late September.
“SLPL is a good preparation for the Twenty20 World Cup,” said Malinga. “All the Sri Lankan players know the conditions very well and we have a chance to win the Twenty20 World Cup. It is advantage for us and we are ready for the Twenty20 World Cup.”
Modelled on T20 tournaments such as the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 Premier Leagues, the inaugural edition of the SLPL kicked off on August 11 this year, with 7 franchises battling it out, and 112 local players and 56 overseas players involved in the tournament.
The competition has reached its final stages, with semi-finals due to begin from August 28, and 4 teams – Wayamba United, Kandurata http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Warriors-c861, Uva Next, and Nagenahira Nagas – have qualified for the next stage of the tournament.
While Malinga’s own performance during the tournament was far from ideal (he claimed 7 wickets from the 6 matches he played, and his team, the Ruhuna Royals, finished at number 5th in the SLPL after winning only 2 of the 5 matches they played),
the pacer expressed the intent to perform better during the upcoming T20 World Cup.
“Definitely, my performance was not up to the mark. But I am hoping that I will do well in the Twenty20 World Cup,” he said.
The Lankan team has had a hectic schedule in 2012, which they kicked off with a tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 for
a Test series in March/April, they went on to play http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 and then India on home ground.
The match practice on home soil has been topped off with a slew of T20 matches during the SLPL (which features most of the Lankan team players such as Malinga, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TM-Dilshan-c2691), which is bound to serve them in good stead as they
prepare to host the ICC World Twenty20, which kicks off on September 18.
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