Pakistan pacer Akif Javed was too hot to handle as Galle Gallants got over the line against Colombo Kaps in a high-scoring affair.
Colombo and Galle start even
Choosing to field first after winning the toss, Colombo and Galle were neck-and-neck as they kept outflanking each other. Galle were quick to grab the wickets, but Colombo made sure not to fall behind as they upped their scoring rate.
By the end of the powerplay, they had lost three wickets but had a decent 68 on the scoreboard. Amidst all the topsy-turvy game, Kusal Mendis kept his cool and anchored the innings for Colombo while making sure to dispatch every loose ball to the boundary.
Ben McDermott then came to join him, and the pair put on a 93-run partnership off 63 balls. McDermott had carried both the load and throttle of the task, scoring 57 off 34 balls and cranking the run flow to over 10 runs per over.
Galle’s brilliant death bowling
But with his dismissal, Galle once again came out on top, with their pacers giving their best in the death overs. The last three overs fetched Colombo only 22 runs while they lost four wickets, including the three that fell in Akif Javed’s over. This forced them to halt at 189, which seemed a target good enough to be defended.
Galle batters might not have gone full throttle the way Colombo did, and as hindsight tells, they did well to avoid being reckless. They lost two wickets within the powerplay, but then Sam Harper and Charith Asalanka put on a 72-run partnership off 53 balls. The asking rate, however, was still more than 10.
Arachchige, Nawaz get Gallants over the line
That both set batters and captain Shanaka departed soon in quick succession did not help their case. However, a late-innings cameo from Sahan Arachchige, who scored 16-ball 38 with the support of Mohammad Nawaz, quickly brought down the asking rate. By the time the second-last over reached its halfway point, Galle just needed a run a ball to win, which they did pretty conveniently two balls into the final over.
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