Galle, Kandy fight for fourth semi-final slot in LPL

By M. Shamil Amit 

With the Lanka Premier League (LPL) having reached the final stages, the Galle Gladiators and Kandy Tuskers will fight it out for the last semi-final slot, with the Jaffna Stallions, Dambulla Viiking and Colombo Kings already having qualified for the final four. 

Both the Gladiators and Tuskers will feature in today’s double header, each knowing that victory is the only guarantee for keeping their hopes for qualification alive. 

In the first match to be played today, Kandy Tuskers led by Kusal Perera who has so far performed creditably will, bank on the support of Kusal Mendis, Brendan Taylor, Asela Gunaratne, Seekkuge Prasanna in the batting along with Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel and Nuwan Pradeep with the ball to turn tables against the strong Stallions led by Thisara Perera whose team top the points table.

In the other match to be played in the evening session, Viiking led Dasun Shanaka will face the Gladiators led by Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who will aim to avenge their nine-run defeat in the first match between the two teams. 
The Gladiators will be coming into the game with their heads high after their first win against the Kings on Monday. They will rely on openers, Danushka Gunathilaka who is in top form and is the leading run-getter of the tournament with 322 inclusive of three half centuries, Ahsan Ali, Rajapaksa and Azam Khan to make useful contributions.