'Babar hatao Colombo bachao' - Fans react as Jaffna Kings beat Colombo Strikers by 21 runs in LPL 2023 opener

The Lanka Premier League 2023 got underway on Sunday, July 30 with Jaffna Kings clashing against the Colombo Strikers at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The home team won the toss and elected to field first. They did a decent job of restricting the Kings to 173/5 in 20 overs.

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Towhid Hridoy top-scored for the three-time winners with 54 off 39, including four boundaries and one maximum. Handy contributions by Rahmanullah Gurbaz (21 off 11), Priyamal Perera (22 off 16), and Dunith Wellalage (25* off 23) helped the team score beyond the 170-mark. Skipper Thisara Perera’s quickfire 14* off 7 was crucial for the Kings as well. As far as Strikers’ bowling is concerned, Naseem Shah, Matheesha Pathirana, Chamika Karunaratne, and Lakshan Sandakan scalped one wicket each.

Vijayakanth Viyaskanth won the ‘Man of the Match’ Award for his two wickets and two catches

In reply, the strikers could only manage 152 in 19.4 overs before being bundled out by the Kings’ bowling attack. Skipper Niroshan Dickwella scored a brilliant half-century while opening the innings for the home team. He scored 58 off 34, including nine fours and a six at the strike rate of 170.58. Chamika Karunaratne with 23 off 15 was the second-highest scorer for the Strikers as other batters failed to support their skipper in the run-chase. In the end, they were bowled out at the score of 152 with two balls to spare, giving the three-time champions an opening win by 21 runs.

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Talking of the Kings’ bowling Hardus Viljoen remained the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/31 in four overs. He was closely followed by Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Dilshan Madushanka with figures of 2/17 and 2/18, respectively. Skipper Thisara Perera scalped one while conceding 29 runs in three overs. Up next in the Lanka Premier League 2023, a doubleheader awaits fans on July 31, Monday, Day 2 of the tournament. The first game will see Galle Titans take on the Dambulla Aura while the second game of the day will feature the B-Love Kandy up against the Colombo Strikers.

Here’s how fans reacted:

Babar hatao Colombo strikers team bacaho 🤣🤣

— Rimon Sekh (@SekhRimon) July 30, 2023

Zimbabar - lumber 1

Nasheen Shah - 150+

Nawaz - greatest allrounder according to Pakistan



But lost against retire srilankan players 🤣🤣

— A (@kohliRcb18) July 30, 2023

Oper ja kar phela Mach hara diya Karachi rota hai abb Colombo ko rula dega

— Ekam Sandhu (@EkamSandhu1981) July 30, 2023

Reasons for loss Babar Azam take decesion in field why Sri Lanka not even groom leaders .why they gave a failure captain babar not achieved any major tournament.why they give capacity to him @OfficialSLC

— REYAN ROY (@RAYYANR49862504) July 30, 2023

The support the Columbo striker till end

Inshallah strong comeback in the next game

Specially prayer for 👑 Bobby

— Babar Azam56 (@arshadk87) July 30, 2023

Where's Pakistani there's Bad Luck..Panauti Players

— K (@Neon_Boye0) July 30, 2023

gobar azam panoti 😂

— karan (@void_sprit_) July 30, 2023

I blame Babar's statpedding

— Ugma Ram 𝕏 (@ugma_ram_) July 30, 2023