Cricket Highlights, 14 Aug: LPL 2023 (Match 18) – Colombo Strikers vs B-Love Kandy: A triumph keeps Colombo alive in the race for the playoffs despite suffering two straight defeats

Colombo Strikers vs B-Love Kandy (Match 18) – Highlights

Colombo Strikers clinched an impressive 9-run win over B-Love Kandy in the 18th match of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2023. Chasing a challenging target of 170 runs, B-Love Kandy could not score more than 160 runs after losing 8 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs due to the controlled bowling attack of Colombo Strikers. After winning four matches in a row, they faced a defeat in this match.

On the other hand, the Colombo Strikers still kept their playoff hopes alive by picking up their third win in the tournament. They are currently at the bottom of the standings with three wins and four losses playing seven matches. Besides, B-Love Kandy is still second in the points table.

Colombo Strikers captain Chamika Karunaratne won the toss and decided to bat first at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The batters of Colombo Strikers started well. However, opener Babar Azam (9) and wicket-keeper batsman Lahiru Udara (1) returned to the dressing room within the team’s 28 runs. Still, Colombo Strikers picked up 47 runs after losing 2 wickets in 6 overs of power play.

However, another opener Pathum Nissanka and Nipun Dhananjaya played an important role for the team. These two put together a partnership of 69 runs to take the team towards setting a big target. But after playing an innings of 40 runs off 29 balls with 1 four and 3 sixes, Nipun left the crease for the team’s 97 runs. But at the other end, Nissanka continued to stagnate the scoring wheel of the team.

But in the 16th over of the innings, Wanindu Hasaranga took a couple of wickets to knock Colombo Strikers out of the match. He seized the wickets of Nissanka and Iftikhar Ahmed (0) in two consecutive balls. Nissanka scored 51 runs in 38 balls with 4 fours and 1 six. Besides, Mohammad Nawaz departed after scoring 21 runs.

In the end, thanks to the stormy innings of skipper Karunaratne (17 from 9 balls) and Nuwanidu Fernando (15 from 9 balls), Colombo Strikers collected a fighting total of 169 runs, losing 9 wickets. Wanindu Hasaranga, Angelo Mathews, and Isuru Udana picked up 2 wickets each for B-Love Kandy. Apart from this, Chaturanga de Silva and Nuwan Pradeep took 1 wicket each.

Chasing a target of 170 runs, the B-Love Kandy batsmen were under pressure from the start because of the bowling attack of the Colombo Strikers’ bowlers. They lost two wickets after getting 27 runs in 6 overs of power play. The batsmen could not accelerate the pace of runs in the controlled bowling of the bowlers. As a result, the score of the team stood at 70 runs for 3 wickets as 10 overs were done.

B-Love Kandy’s batters could not cope with this pressure. They kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. In the end, B-Love Candy’s innings stopped at 160 runs after losing 8 wickets. Captain Hasaranga scored the highest 40 runs off 21 balls for the team. There were 6 fours and 1 six in his innings. Besides, Asif Ali played a cameo innings of 33 off 15 balls hitting 2 fours and 3 sixes.

Matheesha Pathirana and Jeffrey Vandersay took the maximum number of 2 wickets each for Colombo Strikers. Apart from this, Naseem Shah, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Chamika Karunaratne got 1 wicket each. Along with this, Pathum Nissanka was selected as the player of the match after playing an effective innings with the bat.

Colombo Strikers vs B-Love Kandy Scoreboard

Colombo Strikers – 169/9 (20.0)

B-Love Kandy – 160/8 (20.0)

Result – Colombo Strikers won by 9 runs

Player of the match – Pathum Nissanka

Colombo Strikers vs B-Love Kandy Playing Xis