Dilshan off to Aussie Bash

New South Wales have pulled off a Dilshan scoop.

The Northern Knights won't see the return of exciting Sri Lankan cricket Tillakaratne Dilshan for next season's domestic Twenty20 competition.

Instead, the dynamic batsman who often employs his trademark "Dil-scoop" shot during the shortest version of the game has been nabbed by New South Wales for the 2010/11 Big Bash domestic Twenty20 competition in Australia.

Northern Districts chief executive David Cooper said they had been hopeful Dilshan would return next year.

"We approached him at the end of the HRV Cup and were negotiating with him to return," Cooper said. "We were pretty keen to get him back again."

Dilshan played five matches for Northern Districts in this season's HRV Cup after international commitments with Sri Lanka meant a late arrival in New Zealand. He averaged 25 with the bat, with a top score of 59, as the Knights narrowly missed a place in the final.

Dilshan was the player of the tournament at last year's World Twenty20 in England as Sri Lanka reached the final, scoring 317 runs at 52.83 with a strike rate of 144.74 and captured the sport's attention at the event with his daring flick-shot over his head.

Having captured the inaugural Champions League title in India last year, the New South Wales Blues came up short in terms of overseas recruits in the 2009/10 Big Bash and missed out on the final.

South Australia captured West Indian allrounder Kieron Pollard and the Blues signed his lesser-talented Caribbean colleague Dwayne Smith. Dilshan, 33, is currently playing for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL and his signing is still subject to approval from the Sri Lankan Board. 

- with AAP

- © Fairfax NZ News