Matheesha Pathirana
Pic by Kushan Pathiraja
By Shehan Daniel at the R. Premadasa Stadium
The Colombo Strikers kept their hopes of reaching the Lanka Premier League play-offs alive with a nine-run win over B-Love Kandy yesterday, in a match that came down to the wire before fast-bowler Matheesha Pathirana delivered the killer blows.
Chasing 170 to win, the game appeared to have slipped away from Kandy when Angelo Mathews was dismissed in the 14th over, leaving them on 96 for 6 with 72 runs still needed to win.
However, Pakistani all-rounder Asif Ali hammered 33 off 14 balls, with two boundaries and three sixes, to bring that equation down to 32 off 16 before he was bowled by Pathirana.
With 14 runs coming off the next nine balls, B-Love needed 18 off the last over, but Pathirana dismissed Ashen Bandara and conceded only 10 runs to secure a win for Colombo.
It means that the final two teams to qualify for the play-offs will be decided on Tuesday, when the Strikers take on the Galle Titans, in a virtual knock-out match .
Defending champions Jaffna Kings are also in the mix, after their defeat to the Titans left their fate in the result of Tuesday’s match, though they are still favoured to progress with a better net run rate.
Only a no-result on Tuesday, that will see Galle and Colombo sharing one point each, would end Jaffna’s title defense.
Kandy were behind for much of the chase, reaching the half-way point of their innings on 70 for 3, a situation excavated by the dismissal of Wanindu Hasaranga at the start of the 11th over, after the B-Love captain had plundered 40 off just 20 balls.
Chathuranga de Silva replaced him at the crease, and creamed the first ball he faced for six, hitting a second before holing out for 16 in the 13th over.
Mathews was caught out in the following over, but Ali and Bandara kept Kandy in the game until the very end.
Pathum Nissanka scored his second half-century of the season, as the Colombo Strikers scored a competitive 169 for 9 in their 20 overs .
In a tournament in which eye-catching contributions from younger local talent have been few and far between, 22-year old Nipun Dhananjaya, playing his first match of the season, hit three sixes before picking out the fielder at point, making 40 off 29 balls. Colombo’s innings slowed towards the end, with 42 runs coming off the final five overs for the loss of six wickets, having been on 127 for 3 after 15 overs.
Chief scores:
Colombo Strikers 169 for 9 in 20 overs (P. Nissanka 51, N. Dhananjaya 40, W. Hasaranga 2-21, A. Mathews 2-23, C. De Silva 1-19, N. Pradeep 1-37)
B- Love Kandy 160 for 8 in 20 overs (W. Hasaranga 40, A. Ali 33, M. Pathiraja 2-32, J. Vandersay 2-39, I. Ahmed 1-25, C. Karunaratne 1-25, N. Shah 1-28)
