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The Lanka Premier League (LPL) on July 2, Tuesday witnessed a thriller double-header encounter in the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele. Jaffna Kings and Galle Marvels faced each other on the first encounter of the day, whereas Galle Marvels won the match by five wickets. In the second encounter between Colombo Strikers and B-Love Kandy, Colombo Strikers won the game by 51 runs.
Colombo Strikers hold the first position after their win against Kandy and have an NRR of +2.550. Galle Marvels take up the second spot after their win over the Kings earlier today and secure an NRR of +0.100. The third position is taken up by the Kandy Falcons winning one of their two encounters and have a Net Run Rate of -0.586.
The fourth and fifth positions are secured by Jaffna Kings and Dambulla Sixers having an NRR of -0.100 and -1.608 respectively. Both the teams have lost their first match.
Dunith Wellalage and Shadab Khan power Colombo Strikers to a comfortable victory over Kandy Falcons
Jaffna Kings won the toss and elected to bat first against Galle Marvels, and scored 177 with the loss of seven wickets. Avishka Fernando was the standout batter scoring 59 runs off 49 deliveries, which witnessed seven boundaries and a six. Pattum Nissanka also played a supporting role scoring 51 off 33 balls.
Both stood firmly to build an 80-run partnership, and wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Charith Asalanka guided the team to 177 with his cameo of 33 runs from 15 balls. In response, Zahoor Khan was the standout bowler and he ended with figures of 3/34.
On the other hand, Galle Marvels had a beautiful opening pair stand of 66 runs. Niroshan Dickwella scored 47 from just 27 balls, and Alex Hales was the top scorer of the match scoring 65 runs from 47 balls. The match ended with a last-ball thriller to start their campaign on a high note for Galle Marvels.
In the second match of the day, Kandy Falcons won the toss and chose to bowl first. But the decision from the captain tended to back-fired with Colombo firing with the bat. Sadeera was the top scorer scoring 48 runs from just 28 deliveries. Supporting cameos came from Thisara Perera (38 off 30), Shadab Khan (20 off 17), and Chamika Karunaratne (25 off 10).
In response, Kandy had a good start with Dinesh Chandimal and Andre Fletcher powering to 37 in 4.2 overs. However, wickets kept falling at regular intervals costing Kandy Falcons the game and losing by 51 runs. Shadab Khan and Dunith Wellalage ended with figures 4/22 and 4/20 respectively.
