PALLEKELE: A collective effort from the bowlers, followed by Nishan Madushka’s 46-run knock, propelled Jaffna Kings to thump Colombo Strikers by six wickets in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) on Tuesday.
Contrary to the tradition in the LPL 2023, Colombo Strikers’ captain Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bat first.
Pathum Nissanka and Babar Azam, who scored a hundred in the last game, started things on a high with a solid opening partnership of 57 runs in seven overs, before the former fell prey to Wellalage. Nissanka’s 36 off 27 was laced with seven boundaries.
Babar Azam soon followed him as he was caught by David Miller off Madushanka at backward point, after scoring 24 off 21 balls. Nuwanidu Fernando (2) also fell in the same over, thanks to a brilliant catch by Maheesh Theekshana at deep square leg.
Wellalage castled Iftikhar Ahmed (2) in the next over, who was playing his first game of LPL, after leading Surrey Jaguars to the final of the recently concluded GT20 Canada.
Lahiru Udara and Mohammad Nawaz, then knitted a brief partnership of 30 runs before Udara holed one back to Theekshana. He scored a cautious 29 off 25 with the help of two boundaries and one six.
Nawaz and Chamika Karunaratne’s 40-run stand for the sixth wicket saw the Strikers’ score reach 139 before Nawaz departed in the 19th over. He scored 27 runs off 21 deliveries.
Karunaratne, on the other hand, carried his bat all the way through with an unbeaten 21 and led the Strikers to finish at 146/8 in 20 overs.
Dunith Wellalage and Dilshan Madushanka spearheaded Jaffna Kings’ bowling charge, taking two wickets each, while Theekshana, Thushara and Shoaib Malik chipped in with one wicket each.
The Kings had a flying start to the chase, as they quickly raced to 50 runs in the fifth over.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz was the core aggressor of the opening stand as he scored 39 runs off 21 balls at a strike rate of 185 before falling to Pathirana in the sixth over. His innings featured three boundaries and as many sixes.
Gurbaz’s opening partner Dilshan Madushanka, who had a cautious start to his knock as he anchored amid Gurbaz’s onslaught, shifted gears after the former’s dismissal.
He partnered with Charith Asalanka (12) for a 39-run partnership, while added 30 runs for the third wicket with captain Thisara Perera (17).
With Madushka and Perera firm on the crease, it appeared to be a straightforward pursuit for the Kings, requiring 20 runs off eight overs but Naseem Shah caused a stir as he dismissed both set batters in his third over.
Madushka top-scored with 46 off 32 deliveries, courtesy of three boundaries and three sixes.
Towhid Hridoy gave the final touch to an already illustrated run-chase as he finished the game with a four off Naseem to guide Jaffna Kings to a dominant six-wicket win. He scored 14 runs off nine balls with the help of three boundaries.
Naseem picked two wickets for Strikers, while Pathirana and Sandakan contributed with one wicket each.
Jaffna Kings will now face B-Love Kandy on August 12 in the 15th match of the LPL, while Colombo Strikers will face Dambulla Aura in the 16th game on the same day.
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