DAMBULLA: Rilee Rossouw’s unbeaten century led Jaffna Kings to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Colombo Strikers in the 13th match of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2024 here at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Wednesday.
Chasing a 189-run target, the Kings comfortably marched to the victory for the loss of just three wickets and nine balls to spare.
The Kings, however, had a contrasting start to the pursuit as they lost both their openers Pathum Nissanka (6) and Kusal Mendis (5) inside five overs with just 30 runs on the board.
Rossouw then turned the tide in the Kings’ favour with a belligerent knock which featured 12 fours and six sixes.
He was involved in a match-defining 120-run partnership with Avishka Fernando, who supported him brilliantly with a brisk half-century.
Fernando scored 58 off 35 deliveries, peppered with seven fours and two sixes before walking back to the pavilion in the 15th over.
Rilee Rossouw then put together a one-sided partnership with skipper Charith Assalanka (11*) and sealed the deal for the Kings in the penultimate over.
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He top-scored for the Kings with an unbeaten 108 off just 50 balls.
Shadab Khan, Taskin Ahmed and Dunith Wellalage could pick up a wicket apiece for the Strikers.
Earlier after being put into bat first, the Strikers registered a decent total of 188/8, mainly due to the efforts of their top-order batters.
Leading the way was in-form Glenn Phillips with a well-crafted half-century. He top-scored for the Strikers with a 32-ball 58, laced up with six fours and three sixes.
Besides him, openers Angelo Perera (34) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (27) made notable contributions.
Azmatullah Omarzai and Asitha Fernando led the bowling charge for the Kings with two wickets. Tabraiz Shamsi, Fabian Allen and Pramod Madushan, on the other hand, made one scalp each.
The seven-wicket victory strengthened Jaffna Kings’ hold at the summit of the LPL 2024 standings with eight points in six matches while Colombo Strikers remained third with four points in five matches.
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