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Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan celebrates after scoring a century - Source: Reuters -
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Sri Lankan superstar Tillakaratne Dilshan faces a tight turnaround when he arrives in New Zealand at the end of the week.
The opening batsman will play in the Tri-series final on Wednesday night, against India in Bangladesh, before facing a gruelling day of travel to be ready for the Northern Knights' Twenty20 fixture against the Wellington Firebirds in Mt Maunganui at 5.00pm, Friday.
The time constraints of the whole operation means that Dilshan will fly into Tauranga from Auckland on a private jet before hopping into a helicopter to get to the Mount just hours before the match.
However, Northern Districts CEO Dave Cooper is confident that Dilshan will be ready to roll come Friday.
"Pending any major flight delays, he will play," Cooper told tvnz.co.nz.
Dilshan had missed Sri Lanka's last two matches of the Tri-series with a groin injury before playing against India in an eight-wicket loss overnight.
The 33-year-old blasted 33 off just 17 balls before being dismissed by Indian left-arm fast bowler, Zaheer Khan.
However in his only other match of the Triangular series, Dilshan continued his fine form of 2009 with a match-winning 104 against the home side Bangladesh.
Despite his demanding travel schedule Cooper is convinced that his star recruit will perform against Wellington.
"Look, it's only Twenty20 cricket and if he bats for an hour I'm sure the crowd will be entertained," Cooper says.
Dilshan is expected to front a press conference on Saturday before playing his second match of the HRV series against Canterbury in Hamilton on Sunday.
