Colombo, August 5:

Sri Lankan pace bowler Nuwan Zoysa has recovered from a back injury to return into contention for Saturday’s match against the West Indies, says team manager Michael Tissera. “Zoysa has recovered from the back spasms that forced us to replace him in the squad,” Tissera said after a Sri Lanka training session on Friday. Zoysa is expected to play in Saturday’s match against the Windies, which Sri Lanka skipper Marvan Atapattu wants to clinch for a loss-free record going into the August 9 final. India is the third team featuring in the competition. Sanath Jayasuriya and pace spearhead Chaminda Vaas also passed fitness tests on Wednesday, but the team management is considering giving them extra time to recuperate from injuries. “Sanath and Chaminda were also declared match-fit, they too are available for selection,” Tissera said.

Jayasuriya, who is 33 runs short of becoming the first Sri Lankan batsman and the world’s fourth to score 10,000 runs in limited-over internationals, played last week’s tri-series opener against India during which he injured his right shoulder when diving to field a ball. Jayasuriya took painkilling injections and batted with a heavily strapped shoulder at No 6 to fashion Sri Lanka’s three-wicket victory with an unbeaten 43, but has been rested from the next two matches. Skipper Atapattu said on Thursday that Jayasuriya’s shoulder was fine, but the team management was worried that he might again dive to field a shot. Vaas has been sidelined by a stressed hamstring. He is now bowling with a shortened run-up and team

officials said he was 95 per cent fit. As the young fast bowlers who came in for Zoysa and Vaas had performed well, the team management was considering giving Vaas an extended rest until the title contest. On Saturday, Sri Lanka may field pace bowler Lasith Malinga, who has been sitting on the sidelines for three league games in place of Dilhara Fernando, and was likely to bring back ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.