Qais closed for Colombo Kings as Viikings are put to the sword
Six-hitting exploits seal stiff run-chase after impressive display with the ball too
Six-hitting exploits seal stiff run-chase after impressive display with the ball too
Scorer: Binoy George | Commentator: @PeterDellaPenna
That's it from us today, and for the league stage as well. Enjoy the day off tomorrow. Come back Sunday for the semifinals of the 2020 Lanka Premier League! I'm Peter Della Penna, take care!
Qais Ahmad is the Man of the Match for his half-century and 2 wickets: "During practice I told the coach that I'm winning you matches with the ball but I can win you matches with the bat too. The coach and captain had trust in me and believed in me and sent me out. You cannot predict in cricket. You win some and lose some. Today was our day."
Kings captain Angelo Mathews: "It was a fantastic effort. I was surprised to see how we played in the last 8 overs. Dambulla started brilliantly and set us a high target. It was chaseable and I thought we could have held them to 180-190. Credit should go to the curator for producing some fantastic wickets. The confidence we can take forward to the semis, but it's just another day and you have to be on your A-game facing Galle because they're a very dangerous side. Laurie seems pretty bad. The physio will assess him and we only have a day. I had a tight hamstring and didn't want to risk it batting. Laurie is batting well and started the batting brilliantly. Thikshila, Priyanajan and Qais finished it fantastically. We have to turn up once again in a few days time and play with a lot of freedom like we did today."
Dasun Shanaka, Dambulla captain "We started really well batting wise. Bowling we bowled good up front but in the death overs we missed the right lengths and could have done better. 200+ is always good in this wicket."
11.30 pm No Russell? No problem for the Kings. Qais leads Colombo to the top spot on the LPL table with this splendid knock to pick up the slack after Laurie Evans had to retire hurt. Kings were sloppy in the field allowing Dambulla to get past 200, but in the end they chase it down without sweating too much. Very very poor death bowling by Dambulla, something they'll need to rectify in the semi-finals.
So Colombo finishes first on the table in the league stage and will face Galle Gladiators in the semis while Dambulla will be paired against Jaffna Stallions in the other semi to be played as a doubleheader on Sunday.
Qais has got a wide grin on his face waiting for the bowler to run in.
As sensational as this has been from Qais, it's been a dreadful over from Anwar, hasn't hit his length properly on a single delivery. Hat-trick of sixes is the result.
It'd be unfair to call this tailend slogging. Qais looks like a proper batsman in this knock.
Six-hitting exploits seal stiff run-chase after impressive display with the ball too
Fantasy suggestions for the 20th game of LPL 2020