The most fortunate team to be at the Champions League T20 tournament in India is undoubtedly the Southern Express from Sri Lanka.
Dreadful weather in Sri lanka at the end of June, meant that only three of the six group stage matches produced a positive result. Express having lost their opening fixture to Udarata Rulers, then had two games washed out. They finished third in the table, and progressed to the eliminator on their overall run rate, that was slightly better than Yall Blazers.
Express continued to ride their luck, as they first defeated the Western Troopers with just three wickets and two balls remaining. They then faced the Rulers again, and this time reversed their previous defeat, squeezing home by just four runs, to secure the Super 4’s T20 title, and qualify for the Champions League.
However, it hasn’t been such good news ahead of their opening qualifying fixture against the Northern Knights from New Zealand on Saturday at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur.
Already without their captain, and leading fast bowler Lasith Malinga, who has opted to represent his Indian Premier League team, the Mumbai Indians, they have now learnt that they will be without Tillakaratne Dilshan, who will be absent due to a family commitment.
Although Dilshan was named in the Southern Express squad prior to the Super Fours tournament, he didn’t actually participate, as he was playing for English county Surrey in the NatWest Blast at the time. However, that still qualified him for a place in the 15-man Express squad.
Northern Knights qualified for the CLT20 by winning the HRV Twenty20. Making their first appearance in the final of New Zealand’s domestic T20 tournament for six years, the knights defeated the reigning champions, Otago Volts by five wickets with an over to spare.