Powell, Thomas leave Kandy Warriors

By Bipin Dani

Winless and bottom of the points table in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) the Kandy Warriors will find their chances of making the playoffs all the more difficult after West Indian Rovman Powell, their leading run scorer in the tournament so far, was called up for international duty. 

Powell top scored in Wednesday’s loss to the Jaffna Kings, his innings of 61 off 19 with two fours and seven sixes proving in vain as the Warriors fell 14 runs short chasing a target in off 181 their rain-affected match. 
Kandy will also be without Devon Thomas who, like Powell, was called up to the West Indian squad for the three T20Is to be played in Pakistan next week. 

The Warriors have drafted in English men Tom Moores and Ravi Bopara as replacements. Moores was part of the Jaffna Stallions franchise that won the inaugural LPL season last year. 

Powell was not part of the original squad selected last month for the Pakistan tour but replaces Windies white ball captain Kieron Pollard who has not fully recovered from the hamstring injury he picked up during the ICC Men’s T-20 World Cup. 

Kandy Warrior’s head coach Lalchand Rajput has returned to India from his Zimbabwe assignment and will join the squad in Sri Lanka once his three-day home quarantine is over.  The Warriors will at least have another day off to work out their flaws, as they are not among the four teams that are scheduled to play today.  Galle Gladiators, the early leaders in the points table, will take on the Dambulla Giants in the afternoon match, before the Colombo Stars take on the Jaffna Kings at 7:30 p.m.