# Uva Next

The Uva Next was a franchise cricket team that took part in Sri Lanka Premier League, representing the Uva province. Success Sports Private Limited purchased the team for $4.6 million in 2012. They was owned for seven years, after which a new agreement could be negotiated.

## History

The Uva cricket team was a Sri Lankan cricket team that represented the Uva Province. The team was established in 2004 and only featured in the 2003-04 season of the Inter-Provincial First Class Tournament. The team was captained by Chaminda Vaas. In the 2011 edition of Sri Lanka Premier League the Uva Province team was known as the Uva Unicorns. But after the franchise model was introduced the team owners changed the name to Uva Next.
After the franchise model was introduced for the Sri Lanka Premier League in 2012, Uva made a reappearance in the Sri Lankan cricketing arena as Uva Next. The team was captained by Thilina Kandamby in the 2012 season as their marquee player Chris Gayle could not participate due to an injury.

### 2012 season

The team was one of only seven teams taking part in the inaugural edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League held in August 2012. During the first player Draft for the inaugural SLPL season, conducted in July 2012, the Uva team bought a number of contemporary star cricketers such as Chris Gayle, Umar Gul, Upul Tharanga, Jacob Oram, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Thilina Kandamby. Gayle became the costliest player of the draft, as the Uva franchise bought him for $100,000. They also bought Sri Lankan and Foreign Internationals such as Sachithra Senanayake, Dilhara Fernando, Seekkuge Prasanna, Callum Ferguson, Andrew McDonald, Shoaib Malik and some very promising domestic players such as Dilshan Munaweera, Banuka Rajapaksha and Charith Jayampathi.
The Uva Next got on to a great start defeating a very strong Basnahira Cricket Dundee team in their opening match. The strong Uva bowling line up which performed really well in their opening match was very well backed up with their batting. But the winning ways quickly came to an end when they met the red hot favorites of the tournament Wayamba United. Though their bowlers restricted the opposition to a competitive score the uva batting collapsed giving Wayamba United the win. Although losing their second match the Uva Next team soon got into winning ways defeating Uthura Rudras and Ruhuna Royals to record two consecutive wins. This meant that they had to win only one more match to qualify for the semi-finals. The next match with the Kandurata Warriors was an important game for both teams meaning that the winner would join Wayamba United in the semi-finals. For the joy of both teams the match was abandoned due to heavy rains this meant that both teams would qualify for the semis. The last match in the group stage was Played against the Nagenahira Nagas this match was an important match because the loser of this match would face Wayamba United in the semi-finals. Both teams were in hot pursuit of winning to avoid facing the strongest team the Wayamba United. Uva Next scored 160 runs but this wasn't enough against a strong batting order plus about three of their best player had to leave during the match due to injury.
In the first semi-final Uva were lucky to retain two of their injured players but they lost Upul Tharanga due to a finger dislocation. Uva had a bad start and was scoring at a slow pace but because of a calm innings by Chandrpaul and a quick fire 40 by Oram Uva managed to score 171 runs. With the ball it was a magical start by uva taking the first 7 wickets for just 27 runs but a good partnership between Azar Mahamood and Isuru Udana Wayaba United scored 151 runs. But this meant that Uva Next would face the Nagenahira Nagas in the final of the inaugural edition of Sri Lanka Premier League. In the final Nagenahira chose to bat they could not get of to a flyer but after 9.1 overs because of rain the game was shorten to a 15 over match Nagas scored 135 curtsy a 27 ball 73 by Angelo Matthews. Knowing the weather Uva got to a flying start but after 5.1 overs rain returned and the match was stopped according to (D/L) method Uva needed to score 44 runs they scored 63 runs and was crowned the first ever champions of SLPL and qualified for the Champions League.

## Squad

The captain of Uva Next in the inaugural season of SLPL was supposed to be Chris Gayle but due to an injury the captaincy was awarded to former Sri Lankan vice-captain Thilina Kandamby.Shivnarine Chanderpaul was brought in as a replacement to the fellow West Indian. Chris Gayle was named the icon player for Uva and he received the highest salary in the SLPL of $100,000. The Uva Next squad consisted of six overseas players in the tournament having some of the worlds best T20 players such as Umar Gul. Uva also got some of the best upcoming local Sri Lankan players.
Players with international caps are listed in bold.
| No. | Name | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
| Batsmen |||||||
| 6 | Shivnarine Chanderpaul | (1974-08-16) 16 August 1974 (age 50) | Left-handed | Right-arm leg break | Overseas Player |
| – | Chris Gayle | (1979-09-21) 21 September 1979 (age 45) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | Overseas Player |
| 25 | Thilina Kandamby | (1982-06-04) 4 June 1982 (age 42) | Left-handed | Leg break | Captain |
| 27 | Bhanuka Rajapaksa | (1991-10-24) 24 October 1991 (age 32) | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| 241 | Dilshan Munaweera | (1989-04-24) 24 April 1989 (age 35) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| – | Callum Ferguson | (1984-11-21) 21 November 1984 (age 39) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Overseas Player |
| – | Fawad Alam | (1985-10-08) 8 October 1985 (age 38) | Left-handed | Slow left arm orthodox | Overseas Player |
| – | Ashen Silva | (1990-07-12) 12 July 1990 (age 34) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| – | Ashan Priyanjan | (1989-08-14) 14 August 1989 (age 35) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | |
| All-rounders |||||||
| 24 | Jacob Oram | (1978-07-28) 28 July 1978 (age 46) | Left-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | Overseas Player |
| 34 | Andrew McDonald | (1981-06-05) 5 June 1981 (age 43) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | Overseas Player |
| 51 | Shoaib Malik | (1982-02-01) 1 February 1982 (age 42) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | Overseas Player |
| – | James Franklin | (1980-11-07) 7 November 1980 (age 43) | Left-handed | Left-arm fast-medium | Overseas Player |
| – | Chinthaka Jayasinghe | (1978-05-19) 19 May 1978 (age 46) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| – | Saliya Saman | (1985-11-25) 25 November 1985 (age 38) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | |
| 73 | Hammad Azam | (1991-03-16) 16 March 1991 (age 33) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Overseas Player |
| Wicket-keepers |||||||
| 44 | Upul Tharanga | (1985-02-02) 2 February 1985 (age 39) | Left-handed | |
| 15 | Sameera de Zoysa | (1987-01-31) 31 January 1987 (age 37) | Left-handed | |
| – | Akila Isanka | (1989-01-15) 15 January 1989 (age 35) | Left-handed | Slow left arm orthodox | |
| Bowlers |||||||
| 18 | Sachithra Senanayake | (1985-02-09) 9 February 1985 (age 39) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| 26 | Dilhara Fernando | (1979-07-19) 19 July 1979 (age 45) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | |
| 89 | Charith Jayampathi | (1991-02-01) 1 February 1991 (age 33) | Left-arm medium-fast | |
| 41 | Seekkuge Prasanna | (1985-06-27) 27 June 1985 (age 39) | Right-handed | Leg break | |
| 55 | Umar Gul | (1984-04-14) 14 April 1984 (age 40) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | Overseas Player |
| – | Abdur Rehman | (1980-03-01) 1 March 1980 (age 44) | Left-handed | Slow left arm orthodox | Overseas Player |
| – | Dinesh Daminda | (1983-10-23) 23 October 1983 (age 40) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | |
| – | Vishwa Fernando | (1991-09-18) 18 September 1991 (age 33) | Right-handed | Left-arm medium-fast | |
| – | Lahiru Madushanka | (1992-09-12) 12 September 1992 (age 32) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | |

## Player list

| Player | Year of service |
| Thilina Kandamby | 2012 |
| Bhanuka Rajapaksa | 2012 |
| Charith Jayampathi | 2012 |
| Dilhara Fernando | 2012 |
| Dilshan Munaweera | 2012 |
| Sachithra Senanayake | 2012 |
| Sameera de Zoysa | 2012 |
| Seekkuge Prasanna | 2012 |
| Upul Tharanga | 2012 |
| Hammad Azam | 2012 |
| Shoaib Malik | 2012 |
| Umar Gul | 2012 |
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul | 2012 |
| Andrew McDonald | 2012 |
| Jacob Oram | 2012 |

## Results
### Overall results

Performance summary :
| Year | Matches | Wins | Losses | No Result | Success Rate | Summary |
| 2012 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 62.5% | Champions(2012) |

### Result summary

| Opposition | Span | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | % |
| Basnahira Cricket Dundee | 2012 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Kandurata Warriors | 2012 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Nagenahira Nagas | 2012 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Ruhuna Royals | 2012 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Uthura Rudras | 2012 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Wayamba United | 2012 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
* 12 August 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Basnahira Cricket Dundee 136/9 (20 overs) | v | Uva Next 139/2 (18.2 overs) |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan 56 (48) Dilhara Fernando 5/17 (3 overs) | | Upul Tharanga 65* (53) Rangana Herath 1/17 (4 overs) |
* Uva Next won by 8 wickets R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Nishan Dhanasinghe and Ruchira Palliyaguru Player of the match: Dilhara Fernando (Uva Next)
* Basnahira Cricket Dundee won the toss and elected to bat.
* 17 August 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Wayamba United 147/9 (20 overs) | v | Uva Next 127 (18.1 overs) |
| Kamran Akmal 36 (32) Jacob Oram 3/6 (4 overs) | | Dilshan Munaweera 26 (19) Chathuranga Kumara 3/33 (4 overs) |
* Wayamba United won by 20 runs Pallekele International Cricket Stadium Umpires: Asoka de Silva and Ruchira Palliyaguru Player of the match: Chathuranga Kumara (Wayamba United)
* Uva Next won the toss and elected to field.
* 19 August 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Uthura Rudras 124/8 (20 overs) | v | Uva Next 126/6 (19.1 overs) |
| Janaka Gunaratne 30* (17) Sachithra Senanayake 3/16 (4 overs) | | Dilshan Munaweera 36 (25) Chathura Peiris 2/24 (4 overs) |
* Uva Next won by 4 wickets Pallekele International Cricket Stadium Umpires: Asoka de Silva and Tyron Wijewardene Player of the match: Sachithra Senanayake (Uva Next)
* Uthura Rudras won the toss and elected to bat.
* 21 August 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Uva Next 155/6 (20 overs) | v | Ruhuna Royals 141/9 (20 overs) |
| Upul Tharanga 48 (40) Wahab Riaz 3/34 (4 overs) | | Wahab Riaz 31* (18) Seekkuge Prasanna 4/19 (4 overs) |
* Uva Next won by 14 runs Pallekele International Cricket Stadium Umpires: Asoka de Silva and Tyron Wijewardene Player of the match: Seekkuge Prasanna (Uva Next)
* Uva Next won the toss and elected to bat.
* 25 August 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Kandurata Warriors | v | Uva Next |
* Match abandoned without a ball bowled R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Asoka de Silva and Sagara Gallage
* 27 August 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Uva Next 160/7 (20 overs) | v | Nagenahira Nagas 163/4 (19.1 overs) |
| Dilshan Munaweera 45 (35) Shaminda Eranga 2/25 (4 overs) | | Imran Nazir 44 (25) Charith Jayampathi 2/37 (4 overs) |
* Nagenahira Nagas won by 6 wickets R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Asoka de Silva and Maurice Zilwa Player of the match: Imran Nazir (Nagenahira Nagas)
* Uva Next won the toss and elected to bat.

#### Semi-final 1

* 28 August 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Uva Next 171/6 (20 overs) | v | Wayamba United 151/8 (20 overs) |
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul 50* (41) Abdul Razzaq 2/17 (4 overs) | | Azhar Mahmood 75* (47) Jacob Oram 3/16 (4 overs) |
* Uva Next won by 20 runs R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Asoka De Silva and Tyron Wijewardene Player of the match: Jacob Oram (Uva)
* Uva Next won the toss and elected to bat

#### Final

* 31 August 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Nagenahira Nagas 134/4 (15 overs) | v | Uva Next 63/1 (5.1 overs) |
| Angelo Mathews 73* (27) Andrew McDonald 2/24 (3 overs) | | Dilshan Munaweera 44 (23) Ajantha Mendis 1/25 (2 overs) |
* Uva Next won by 19 runs (D/L) R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Asoka de Silva and Ruchira Palliyaguru Player of the match: Dilshan Munaweera (Uva)
* Nagenahira Nagas won the toss and elected to bat.
* Rain first reduced the match to 15 overs per side. Rain stopped play after 5.1 overs in Uva Next's innings. Their target would have been 45 runs according to the Duckworth–Lewis method.