BUT KANDY STILL 2ND IN POINTS TABLE
By Srian Obeyesekere
The stakes for the 2023 Lanka Premier League championship title hotted up with Colombo Strikers winning a close contest by 9 runs over B Love Kandy in Sunday’s night game and the 18th of the mega tournament. However, Kandy with 8 points from 7 games with 4 wins still remained ahead of Colombo 6 points from 7 with 6 points for 3 wins at bottom of the table.
Batting first on winning the toss Colombo Strikers ran up 169 for 9 wickets off 20 overs with opening batsman Pathum Nissanka stroking 51 off 38 inclusive of 4 boundaries and a six which eventually fetched him the Player of the Match award after B Love Kandy skipper Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva’s valiant effort of 40 off 21 (6×4, 1×6) fell short of taking his side through finishing on 160 for 8 off 20 having come up the order at No.4. Kandy recovered from 96 for 6 after 13.3 overs to 138 for 7 following a 42-run pairing by Asif Ali 33 blitz off 15 (2×4) and Ashen Bandara 22 off 18 (3×4). Bandara went on to add 22 for the eighth wicket with Isuru Udana 5 off 14, but it was good as over in that lost cause in the run race with Bandara falling in the penultimate delivery bowled by Matheesha Pathirana.
He found solid support from Nipun Dhananjaya who hammered 3 sixes and a boundary scoring 40 off 29 in adding 69 for the third wicket after Babar Azam had been bowled by Angelo Mathews for 2 and Lahiru Udara became his second victim caught by Mohammad Haris for 1 in lifting Colombo Strikers from the edge of 2 for 28 after 4.1 overs that signified a notable comeback by the former Lankan captain from niggling stress setbacks in the wake of Mathews’ 3 wickets in the previous game. Mohammad Nawaz bolstered the total with a breezy 21 off 19 inclusive of a six and boundary with the hard hitting Chamika Karunaratne coming to the show with 17 off 9 (2×4, 1×6) and Nuwanidu Fernando 15 off 9 (2×4, 1×6)
CHIEF SCORES:
Colombo Strikers 169/9 (20 Overs)
(Pathum Nissanka 51, Nipun Dhananjya 40, Mohammad Nawaz 21, Chamika Karunaratne 17, Chamika Karunaratne 17, Nuwanidu Fernando 15, Angelo Mathews 2/23, Wanindu Hasaranga 2/21, Isuru Udana 2/40, Chaturanga de Silva 1/19, Nuwan Pradeep 1/37)
B Love Kandy 160/8 (20 Overs)
(Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva 40, Asif Ali 33, Sahan Arachchige 13, Fakhar Zaman 11, Angelo Mathews 11, Chathuranga de Silva 16, Isuru Udana n.o. 5, Matheesha Pathirana 2/32, Jeffrey Vandersay 2/39, Iftikar Ahmed 1/25, Naseem Shah 1/28)
