CK vs KR

This is me, Mohul Bhowmick, signing off also on behalf of my partner Pradeep from this exciting game in the Lanka Premier League. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did bringing it to you. Until next time, goodbye!

Wanindu Hasaranga, captain of the Kandy Falcons: I am happy with the way the lads performed today. Credit to our batters for doing so well.  First two wickets I tried to bowl at the sticks and decided to bowl the googly. Trying to take more responsibility as a captain. I always try to do my best whether I am the captain of my side or not.

Let's hear it from Angelo Mathews, skipper of the Colombo Stars: The conditions were good. We probably put up the worst performance on a field a cricket team has ever done. Thankfully, it happened early on in the tournament, so it has acted as an eye opener. No excuses at all, and we need to get back to our basics. I love opening for the side, be it with the bat or the ball, and I hope I can let my performances do all the talking.

Andre Fletcher has been adjudged the Player of the Match for his sensational century that set up the win for the Falcons! Here's what he has to say: Just have to celebrate, we talked in the team meeting that we got to start off with the win, Pathum played well and happy to contribute and the bowlers came out and delivered, totally a team effort. It was a touch start, I tried to take the attack to the opposition, happy that I capitalised on the chances I got and Nissanka eased up the pressure on me. Honestly, from getting feedbacks from the first game, we thought it would be 130-140 wicket and we never wanted to take things for granted and we kept the pressure on the bowlers throughout.

Kandy Falcons beat Colombo Stars by 109 runs!

Andre Fletcher 102* (67) | Wanindu Hasaranga 4/14
Pathum Nissanka 71 (41) | Fabian Allen 2/1

This game ended up being extremely lopsided thanks to the Falcons’ skipper Wanindu Hasaranga’s extraordinary spell of bowling. The Stars wilted under the pressure they were put under by the Falcons, and after a point of time, there was no going back for them. Skipper Angelo Mathews kept the fire burning for a while, but he too perished to his counterpart for 26, and after that the going was all downhill for the Stars.

The Caribbean duo of Keemo Paul and Dominic Drakes tried to hang around for a while, but they had their backs to the wall, and this made their task extremely difficult. The Stars will have a lot of learnings to take away from this game, and their batters especially need to take more responsibility as they go further into the tournament. 

Keemo Paul’s batting lower down the order will have inspired a lot of other batters in the Stars’ lineup too, and this should be the way going forward. For the Falcons, the other bowlers need to get in the wickets too as it will do their confidence no harm at all. There is no way that the Stars ought to be getting out for 90- not with a batting lineup like the one they possess.

14.3 Fabian Allen to Suranga Lakmal, OUT! BIG APPEAL FOR LBW AND GIVEN! Lakmal reviews it. Fires the short delivery into Lakmal, goes deep inside the crease to play but misses, thuds on the thigh. UltraEdge confirms there was no bat involved. Ball tracking has TWO REDS and Wickets Umpire's call, that's clipping leg-stump and that was enough. Colombo Stars have been humbled here as Kandy Falcons kick off their campaign with a clinical victory!

Suranga Lakmal lbw b Fabian Allen 0 (1b 0x4 0x6)

14.2 Fabian Allen to Dominic Drakes, OUT! PICKS OUT DEEP MID-WICKET AND GONE! That is a blinder from Nissanka at deep mid-wicket. Drakes rocks back and heaves that one away but Nissanka was running to his left and pouches it and Falcons are one wicket away from notching up a comprehensive victory here.

Dominic Drakes c Pathum Nissanka b Fabian Allen 18 (22b 2x4 2x6)

14.1 Fabian Allen to Muditha Lakshan, drops it short, gets big on Lakshan as he goes deep inside the crease to pull but has mistimed it to deep mid-wicket for one.

13.5 Ashian Daniel to Muditha Lakshan, FOUR! Was in the air but was in the gap. Short on the fifth stump, Lakshan cuts it in the air but between short third-man and backward point for a boundary.

13.4 Ashian Daniel to Keemo Paul, OUT! DRAGS IT BACK ON! Entertaining innings comes to an end from Keemo Paul. Was short on the fifth stump, goes deep inside the crease to cut but Paul has got the inside edge that has gone on to rattle the stumps.

Keemo Paul b Ashian Daniel 22 (15b 1x4 2x6)

13.3 Ashian Daniel to Dominic Drakes, OH! That is a stunning effort from the fielder from deep mid-wicket, goes for the catch as he sprints towards it, puts in the dive but that still falls short. Drakes has heaved the length delivery away and almost caught by Bandara.

13.1 Ashian Daniel to Keemo Paul, SIX! BOOM! Loopy delivery, was full on the off-stump, in the slot as Paul launched it and has SMOKED it straight down the ground for a maximum.

Excellent over by Udana, giving away just three runs. Hasaranga has made very good bowling changes today. Paul and Drakes can still hold on for the Stars, though.