END OF OVER:20 | 5 Runs | BLK: 130/8 (28 runs required, RR: 6.50)
- Mohammad Hasnain7 (12b)
- Sarfaraz Ahmed16 (21b)
- Chamika Karunaratne4-0-28-0
- Matheesha Pathirana4-0-24-3
11.20pm All teams have played one game so far and only two teams are yet to register on the board so far. Colombo lost one today but came back strong and will want to carry on the form. Another double-header tomorrow and we will in nice and early. Till then, this is me Ashish Pant signing off on behalf of Madushka Balasuriya and Ranjith. Night!
And lastly, the Strikers captain, Niroshan Dickwella: Was a good innings, got some runs yesterday. Did not get runs today, but got the win. We wanted to bat today. It was really important to win the toss. I knew the wicket was dry and it would turn. We assessed the conditions and saw in the first game, it was turning. We knew we had Vandersay and knew it would turn.
Kandy captain Wanindu Hasaranga: Toss did not play a role. This is the third game on the same pitch. We don't know about the wicket. When we were batting, the ball was gripping, there we lost some crucial wickets at crucial times.
Babar Azam is the Player of the Match: Tried to build a partnership. The pitch was two-paced. It was tough to bat. I was trying to build a partnership. It was not an easy pitch, so tried to take it deep. There was extra bounce then I realised here we need proper batting till the 15th over and then we can charge. The rest of the boys played well.
11.06pm Everyone though Colombo Strikers were 10-15 runs short at the midway mark, but with the bowling attack they have, anything they can on the board will prove to be a handful. Kandy never really got going in the chase. Matthews top scored with 25 off 22 with hardly any other performance of note. Naseem Shah was brilliant with the new ball picking 2 for 19 while Matheesha Pathirana grabbed 3 for 24. Jeffrey Vandersay also managed two wickets as Kandy could only manage 130 for 8. Babar's innings of 59 proves to be the difference eventually. Do stay tuned for the presentation.
infernos : "@ashish who should be MoM? Babar, naseem or matheesh???" Babar gets my vote.
Kandy need 33 off the final over. Can Sarfaraz conjure up something? Chamika to bowl
END OF OVER:19 | 3 Runs | BLK: 125/8 (33 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 6.57, RRR: 33.00)
- Mohammad Hasnain7 (11b)
- Sarfaraz Ahmed11 (16b)
- Matheesha Pathirana4-0-24-3
- Naseem Shah4-0-19-2
END OF OVER:18 | 6 Runs | BLK: 122/8 (36 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 6.77, RRR: 18.00)
- Mohammad Hasnain6 (7b)
- Sarfaraz Ahmed9 (14b)
- Naseem Shah4-0-19-2
- Matheesha Pathirana3-0-21-3
Naseem
END OF OVER:17 | 4 Runs 1 Wkt | BLK: 116/8 (42 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 6.82, RRR: 14.00)
- Mohammad Hasnain1 (2b)
- Sarfaraz Ahmed8 (13b)
- Matheesha Pathirana3-0-21-3
- Mohammad Nawaz4-0-18-1
Hasnain in
I Udana c Mohammad Nawaz b Pathirana 7 (11b 0x4 0x6) SR: 63.63
Kandy need 46 off 24 balls. Sarfaraz remains key.