COLOMBO: Matheesha Pathirana returned career-best bowling figures of 4/20 and powered Colombo Strikers to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Galle Marvels in the 19th match of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2024 here on Monday.
Put into bat first, Galle Marvels could post 138 runs on the board despite Tim Seifert’s anchoring 44-run knock.
The Marvels, at one stage, were 93/3 before running into a disastrous collapse, mainly triggered by Pathirana, who took four wickets in the process.
Seifert remained the top-scorer for the Marvels with a 38-ball 44 which featured three fours and two sixes while Bhanuka Rajapaksa made a quickfire 35 off 15 balls, laced up with one four and four sixes.
The duo recorded the highest partnership for the Marvels when they added a quick 41 runs for the fourth wicket.
Matheesha Pathirana was the star with the ball for the Strikers while Shadab Khan and Dunith Wellalage contributed significantly with two wickets each.
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In response, the Strikers comfortably chased down the 139-run target for the loss of just three wickets and 10 balls to spare, thanks to Muhammad Waseem’s half-century.
The home side, however, had a contrasting start to the pursuit as they lost Angelo Perera (11) in the second over with just 14 runs on the board.
Waseem then anchored the run chase with the sensible knock, which lasted in the 15th over.
He top-scored for the Strikers with a 44-ball 50, peppered with four fours and two sixes.
Glenn Phillips then partnered with Sadeera Samarawickrama and made sure there were no more hiccups in the modest run chase.
Phillips scored an unbeaten 31 off 32 while Samarawickrama made 15 not out.
For the Marvels, Maheesh Theekshana, Isuru Udana and Sahan Arachchige took one wicket apiece.
The seven-wicket victory strengthened Colombo Strikers’ grip at the third spot in the LPL 2024 standings with eight points in seven matches while Galle Marvels remained at the top with 10 points after eight outings.
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