B – Love Kandy sealed their Play-Off spot after registering their 4th win today (12th August) by beating the Jaffna Kings in Match No. 15 of the Lanka Premier League 2023 at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.
The B – Love Kandy Skipper Wanindu Hasaranga opted to bat first after winning the toss as they went unchanged while the Kings made one change, brining in Chris Lynn for Towhid Hridoy.
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Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Haris, who opened the innings, set the tone in the powerplay by adding 51 runs in 5.3 overs. Zaman (22 off 17) was the first to go after dragging one on to the stumps off Nuwan Thushara. Dinesh Chandimal too played on off Dunith Wellalage for just 1 run.
After losing 3 quick wickets for 63 runs, Haris and Angelo Mathews took their side back on track with a brilliant 75-run stand for the 4th wicket. The right-handed duo faced only 43 balls in that partnership. Meanwhile, the Pakistani hard-hitting batter completed his maiden half-century in LPL off 37 balls.
In the 15th over, Haris went after the bowling of Wellalage with 4, 6 & 4, but the bowler gave the send off, castling him in the very next delivery. The latter smashed 81 runs off 51 balls while he hit 10 fours & a couple of sixes. Thushara got his 2nd wicket by getting the better of Mathews (22 off 18).
Hasaranga became Thushara’s 3rd victim as he perished in the penultimate over after scoring a 14-ball 19. B – Love Kandy managed to post a competitive total of 178/8 in their 20 overs.
With the ball in hand, Nuwan Thushara, who was exceptional with his slingy action, finished with 3/31, while Dilshan Madushanka and Dunith Wellalage took 2/31 & 2/43 respectively.
<<< Bowlers and openers set up big win for Jaffna Kings >>>
Angelo Mathews who started off proceedings with the ball, produced just the perfect start, getting the wicket of Rahmanullah Gurbaz for the 2nd time in this season. The veteran struck again in the 2nd over to get rid of the other opening batter Nishan Madushka.
Mathews’ new-ball spell got better and better when he found the outside edge of Charith Asalanka, and the wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal took a regulation catch which reduced the Jaffna Kings to 16/3 in 4.1 overs.
Hasaranga decided to bowl himself in the final over in the powerplay, but Chris Lynn capitalised, smashing three successive boundaries against the star leg spinner. However, Lynn’s stay at the crease did not last long as Nuwan Pradeep struck back after being hit for a six.
David Miller batted well for his 16-ball 24 before being cleaned up Isuru Udana, as the Kings lost 5/90 inside 13 overs. Skipper Thisara Perera joined Shoaib Malik and stitched together in a counter attacking partnership of 60 using only 31 balls, which helped them to come back into this game.
The hard-hitting Skipper went all guns blazing scoring a quick-fire 36 off 20 balls, which consisted of 2 fours & 2 sixes. Malik tried his best once more and went on to register his 2nd fifty this season, but the Jaffna Kings ended up with 170/6, falling 9 runs short of the target.
On the bowling front, Angelo Mathews was sensational in his 3-over spell, taking 3 wickets for 10 runs.
With this win, B – Love Kandy climbed to the top after registering their 4th win and booked their place in the Play-Offs alongside Dambulla Aura.
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Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammad Haris | b Dunith Wellalage | 81 | 51 | 10 | 2 | 158.82 |
| Fakhar Zaman | b Nuwan Thushara | 22 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 129.41 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | b Dunith Wellalage | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Sahan Arachchige | b Dilshan Madushanka | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Angelo Mathews | c David Miller b Nuwan Thushara | 22 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 122.22 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | c Thisara Perera b Nuwan Thushara | 19 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 135.71 |
| Asif Ali | run out (Chris Lynn) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Isuru Udana | c Thisara Perera b Dilshan Madushanka | 9 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 150.00 |
| Dushmantha Chameera | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Mujeeb ur Rahman | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 15 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 1, w 14, pen 0) |
| Total | 178/8 (20 Overs, RR: 8.9) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thisara Perera | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5.00 | |
| Shoaib Malik | 3 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 11.33 | |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 8.50 | |
| Nuwan Thushara | 4 | 0 | 31 | 3 | 7.75 | |
| Dunith Wellalage | 4 | 0 | 43 | 2 | 10.75 | |
| Dilshan Madushanka | 4 | 0 | 31 | 2 | 7.75 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nishan Madushka | c Asif Ali b Angelo Mathews | 8 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 88.89 |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | c Dinesh Chandimal b Angelo Mathews | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Chris Lynn | c Mohammad Haris b Nuwan Pradeep | 27 | 26 | 4 | 1 | 103.85 |
| Charith Asalanka | c Dinesh Chandimal b Angelo Mathews | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 |
| Shoaib Malik | not out | 55 | 37 | 4 | 1 | 148.65 |
| David Miller | b Isuru Udana | 24 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 150.00 |
| Thisara Perera | c Dinesh Chandimal b Nuwan Pradeep | 36 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 180.00 |
| Dunith Wellalage | not out | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 120.00 |
| Extras | 11 (b 4 , lb 0 , nb 2, w 5, pen 0) |
| Total | 170/6 (20 Overs, RR: 8.5) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angelo Mathews | 3 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 3.33 | |
| Mujeeb ur Rahman | 3 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 7.67 | |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 11.00 | |
| Dushmantha Chameera | 4 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 8.25 | |
| Nuwan Pradeep | 4 | 0 | 48 | 2 | 12.00 | |
| Isuru Udana | 4 | 0 | 30 | 1 | 7.50 | |
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 by beating the Jaffna Kings in Match No. 15 of the Lanka Premier League 2023 at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.){kind=link}