Taskin’s Colombo beat Shoriful’s Kandy in a LPL thriller

|| CF DESK ||

Colombo Strikers beat Kandy Falcon in a thriller of Lanka Premier League (LPL) by two runs on Saturday.

In Dambulla, Colombo set a challenging target of 199 for 9 in their 20 overs after losing the toss and being put to bat first. Glenn Phillips led the charge with a blistering 70 off 43 balls.

Kandy’s pacers had a tough day, with all of them conceding runs at over ten an over. Bangladesh pacer Shoriful Islam was the pick of the bowlers, taking 2 wickets for 43 runs.

He claimed his first wicket in his second over, dismissing opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Gurbaz attempted a powerful shot off a full-length delivery on the leg stump but mistimed it, and Kamindu Mendis caught him at the boundary.

In his first two overs, Shoriful conceded 23 runs, with 12 runs coming in his first over and 11 runs in his second despite taking a wicket. He was brought back for the 16th over, where he gave away just 7 runs. In the 18th over, his final over, Shoriful dismissed Chamika Karunaratne but conceded 12 runs.

Overall, it was a mixed performance for Shoriful, who managed to take crucial wickets but struggled with his economy rate.

Colombo’s Taskin Ahmed, coming in at number nine, contributed 7 runs off 3 balls, including a six.

In the second innings, Taskin provided a crucial breakthrough for Colombo while defending their total of 199. Although he conceded 12 runs in his first over, Taskin bowled Dinesh Chandimal for 12 runs off 9 balls in his second over, giving away only one run in that over.

After losing their first wicket at 25 runs, Kandy's Andre Fletcher and Mohammad Haris put together a 95-run partnership. Fletcher scored 47 runs off 36 balls, while Haris made 56 runs off 32 balls. Kamindu Mendis later added a quick 36 runs off 16 balls. However, Matheesha Pathirana proved to be the main obstacle for Kandy's chase.

Pathirana took four wickets for 26 runs, while Taskin also bowled economically towards the end. After giving away 13 runs in his first two overs, Taskin conceded 17 runs in his last two overs, finishing with figures of 1 wicket for 30 runs in his four-over spell.

Kandy needed 20 runs in the final over for victory. Despite a valiant effort, the team fell short by just 2 runs, finishing at 197. Angelo Mathews played a blistering innings of 33 runs off 14 balls but was unable to secure the win, failing to score the required three runs off the final ball.