Matheesha’s strikes at the end keep Colombo LPL hopes alive

The Colombo Strikers kept their hopes of reaching the Lanka Premier League play-offs alive with a nine-run win over B-Love Kandy on Sunday, 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 Matheesha Pathirana. 

With 14 runs coming off the next nine balls, B-Love needed 18 off the last over, but Pathirana, delivering the final over, 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, with only one of those teams moving on. 

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 excecated 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. 

Hasaranga’s elder brother 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, with contributions coming from Nipun Dhananjaya who made a feisty 40 off 29 balls. 

In a tournament in which eye-catching contributions from younger local talent have been few and far between, the 22-year old Dhananjaya, playing his first match of the season, hit three sixes before picking out the fielder at point. 

Nissanka brought up his half-century in 36 balls, though his innings tailed off after he raced to 27 off 18 balls in the Powerplay. 

It was emblematic of the Colombo innings that 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. 

(Shehan Daniel at the R. Premadasa Stadium)