There’s very little that has gone right for Colombo Strikers in this edition of Lanka Premier League, but they are still in with a chance following their upset win over B-Love Kandy Sunday night.
With defending champions Jaffna Kings blowing hot and cold, an opportunity had opened up for Colombo and they weren’t going to let it down.
Colombo have been inconsistent this season and with just two wins and four points in the bag there was little hope for them.
But then following Sunday’s nine run win, they are in with a chance to go through.
Now, either they need to beat Galle in the tournament’s last league game tomorrow or even if they lose, need to stay ahead of Jaffna in the Net Run Rate.
Jaffna’s fate of course is now not in their hands and the tournament’s most organized franchise with some expensive buying and experienced players have done very little this season with just three wins in eight games.
On Sunday, Pathum Nissanka was solid for Colombo as he has been throughout the competition. He smashed 51 off 38 balls with four fours and a six.
The middle order fired for Colombo with Nipun Dhananjaya and Mohammad Nawaz chipping in with useful contributions.
A notable feature during the tournament has been former captain Angelo Mathews bowling and inflicting early damage. He shared the new ball and claimed two wickets – big ones too – including a certain Babar Azam.
Wanindu Hasaranga promoted himself to number four again and smashed 40 off 21 balls hitting six fours and one six. The Kandy captain has not been afraid to take risks.
But the problem with the run chase was that there were too many batters who had got starts but failed to convert them into big ones.
When Jeffrey Vandersay dismissed Angelo Mathews, Kandy slumped to 96 for six. Asif Ali and Ashen Bandara then produced cameos to keep their side interested, but eventually they fell short by nine runs.
Kandy won’t mind the loss though. They are already through the playoffs and still have a chance to top the league table.
Brief Scores
:
Colombo Strikers 169-9 (20)
(Pathum Nissanaka 51, Nipun Dhananjaya 40, Mohammad Nawaz 21, Angelo Mathews 2-23, Wanindu Hasaranga 2-21)
B-Love Kandy 160-8 (20)
(Wanindu Hasaranga 40, Asif Ali 33, Ashen Bandara 22, Matheesha Pathirana 2-32, Jeffrey Vandersay 2-39)
