197/8 (20.0)
CR : 9.85
199/9 (20.0)
CR : 9.95
Colombo Strikers won by 2 runs 🏆
Player of the Match
Matheesha Pathirana
4/262(4)
CS won by 2 runs
18:50 IST and Local Time- An absolutely unreal finish and the Colombo Strikers held their nerve in the end to eke out a remarkable win. They've clinched this game by 2 runs, the barest of margins. Angelo Mathew's heroics couldn't get the get the Falcons over the line as they ended up with 197/8 in 20 overs. They needed 20 runs from the final over and they picked up 17 of them. Heartbreak for the Falcons, but ecstasy for the Strikers.
The Falcons lost a wicket early on in pursuit of a massive total but Andre Fletcher managed to hit a few boundaries to set the tone for the batting side. Thisara Perera, the skipper rotated the bowlers well and brought himself on to close out the phase as the Falcons ended up with 44/1.
Haris and Fletcher went on the offensive and they picked up pace as we headed towards the half way stage of the innings. The partnership was stabilizing and went past the 50 mark as they took the scoreboard to 85/1 at the halfway stage of the innings. The partnership was broken when Fletcher had been dismissed. Haris followed soon after and it was all down to the pair of Mendis and Mathews at that stage of the game.
Matheesha Pathirana bowled an unbelievable spell as he picked up 4/26 and he brought the Colombo Strikers back into the contest. He got Kamindu Mendis, Hasaranga and Shanaka which swung the game completely. In the end, Mathews had too much to do as they needed 20 runs from the final over and despite his heroics they fell short. Taskin Ahmed bowled well early on and got a wicket while Shadab Khan was also useful in the middle overs.
The Falcons lost a wicket early on in pursuit of a massive total but Andre Fletcher managed to hit a few boundaries to set the tone for the batting side. Thisara Perera, the skipper rotated the bowlers well and brought himself on to close out the phase as the Falcons ended up with 44/1.
Haris and Fletcher went on the offensive and they picked up pace as we headed towards the half way stage of the innings. The partnership was stabilizing and went past the 50 mark as they took the scoreboard to 85/1 at the halfway stage of the innings. The partnership was broken when Fletcher had been dismissed. Haris followed soon after and it was all down to the pair of Mendis and Mathews at that stage of the game.
Matheesha Pathirana bowled an unbelievable spell as he picked up 4/26 and he brought the Colombo Strikers back into the contest. He got Kamindu Mendis, Hasaranga and Shanaka which swung the game completely. In the end, Mathews had too much to do as they needed 20 runs from the final over and despite his heroics they fell short. Taskin Ahmed bowled well early on and got a wicket while Shadab Khan was also useful in the middle overs.
Time for the post-match presentation
Player of the Match- Matheesha Pathirana
Matheesha Pathirana (Player of the Match)- "Actually I had little bit pressure because it was a very good wicket to bat on. I tried to bowl without conceding runs. I got wickets as a bonus as I concentrated on bowling the dot balls."
Wanindu Hasaranga(Kandy Falcons Captain) - "The credit goes to the top order as they batted really well. It was a fantastic game. The wicket was quite good and 190 is also a chasable score. We should have batted with a lot more discipline."
Thisara Perera(Colombo Strikers Captain)- "I asked my teammates and they said go for bowling the final ball. My plan was to bowl the yorker. I couldn't bowl two yorkers in the overs but I did it in the last over(smiles)."
That brings the curtains on our live coverage of this LPL game between Kandy Falcons and Colombo Strikers. For now, it's the pair of Soumarya and Saptak signing off on behalf of our Scorer/Analyst Bishal Mandal. See you soon!