Kalutara Town Club on their preliminary round performances look the more balanced side to win the final, although a Galle CC victory cannot be ruled out.
With players in the calibre of skipper Rohitha Kottachi, Chandika Seeman, Chitraka Hettiaratchi, Chandika Sujeeva and Nilan Sampath, Kalutara TC have been able to pull off six outright victories from seven matches to head Group 'A'.
Left-armer Kottachi has spearheaded the majority of those victories taking 40 wickets, which is 15 more than what another left-arm bowler Ruwan Sujeeva has taken and 17 more than right-arm medium-pacer Nilan Sampath. The latter however may not play today due to problem of obtaining leave.
Kalutara TC's batting has revolved around wicket-keeper Seeman and Hettiaratchi who have each scored a century apiece and contributed nearly 800 runs together.
They are fielding a side comprising four schoolboys. Heading the list is Sri Lanka under 19 World Cup cricketer Malinga Bandara, who bowls leg-spin. He is a product of Kalutara Vidyalaya along with Chamara Abeyratne and Susantha Pradeep. Jayanath Mangala from Kalutara Tissa Vidyalaya is not expected to play.
Galle CC's strong point has been their batting which is spearheaded by the captain Duminda Wickremasinghe. The right-hander has been in excellent form during the season accumulating 521 runs for an impressive average of 104.20. Of his two centuries and three fifties, is a career best knock of 160 against Old Cambrians.
Dammika Sudarshana is the other prolific run-maker for Galle CC with 431 runs and two centuries. They are supported by experienced opening bat Saman Fonseka and wicket-keeper Chandragupta Hewamana.
Although Galle CC won three outright wins out of six games to head Group 'B', their bowling looks thin in comparison to Kalutara's. No bowler has been outstanding for them. Chanaka Vithanage, Dileepa de Silva and spinner Hasitha Rajapakse have chipped in with useful wickets without being match-winners. Rajapakse may have to fight for his place with former Sri Lanka fast bowler, J.C. Gamage who has returned from a stint in France.
Galle CC qualified narrowly having tied for first place with Nomads with 94.5 points each. However as both teams also had the same number of outright victories (three each), the group leader was decided on the highest net total runs per wicket basis.
The winning team in the final will receive Rs. 100,000, and runners-up Rs. 75,000. Individual awards include Rs. 25,000 for Man of the tournament, Rs. 20,000 for Man of the final and Rs. 10,000 each for Best Batsman and Best Bowler of the final.
The teams: GALLE CC (from): Dileep Wickremasinghe (captain), Chanaka Vithanage, Saman Fonseka, Nayantha Weeraman, Dammika Sudarshana, Chandragupta Hewamana, Chamil Perera, Ruchira Karunasena, Vajira Lakmal, Dileepa Silva, Hasitha Rajapakse, J.C. Gamage.
KALUTARA TC (from): Rohitha Kottachi (captain), Chitraka Hettiaratchi, Gayan Anupama, Malinga Bandara, Chamara Abeyratne, Chandika Seeman, Ruwan Sujeeva, Dayantha Pushpakumara, Manju Balagalla, Kasun Sanjaya, Susantha Pradeep, Nilan Sampath.
UMPIRES: Ryle de Silva and Annesley Jayasundera.