By Srian Obdyesekere
Jaffna Kings were thunder struck by the twosome works of Colombo Strikers Shadab Khan’s 4 for 20 burst and Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s 33-ball 57 cameo cascading in 4 lusty over the top strikes and an equal number of boundaries in powering to 112 for 1 in just 9.5 overs in handing out a 9-wicket thrashing to the three-times champions of the Lanka Premier League in the irony of the Kings former captain Thisara Perera leading Colombo in a switch in the 2024 tournament 17th night contest at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium yesterday.
The Kings were all at sea in the face of Pakistani Zadab Khan who accounted for Avshka Fernando 17, their skipper Charith Asalanka for 13, Dhananjaya de Silva 6 and Fabian Allen 10 after Binura Fernando had remover opener Pathum Nissanka for 3, and the Strikers skipper Thisara Perera had clean bowled Kusal Mendis for 3 as the Kings slipped from 1 for 4 and 2 for 18 in 2.5 overs to 7 for 54 just past the halfway mark following Dhananjaya de Silva’s wicket from where they never recovered.
Pacer Binura Fernando had upfront fine figures of 2 for 24 for Colombo Strikers.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz fronted Colombo Strikers victory charge in the aplomb despite the early loss of Angelo Perera for 16 with the score 25 after 2.2 overs with Muhammad Wasim providing the flourish by a 18-ball 35 hitting 3 over the top and 2 boundaries.
CHIEF SCORES:
Jaffna Kings 109/9 (20 Overs)
(Vijayaskanth Viyaskanth n.o 25, Kusal Mendis 17, Charith Asalanka 13, Avishka Fernando 11, Eshan Malinga 15, Pramod Madushan 10, Shadab Khan 4/10, Binura Fernando 2/24, Isitha Wijesundara 1/11, Thisara Perera 1/15, Matheesha Pathirana 1/20)
Colombo Strikers 112/1 (9.5 Overs)
(Rahmanullah Gurbaz n.o. 57, Muhammad Waseem n.o. 35, Angelo Perera 16, Pramod Madushan 1/26)
