Naseem Shah sledging Rahmanullah Gurbaz© Twitter
The fourth edition of the Lanka Premier League kick-started on Sunday with Jaffna Kings emerging victorious against Colombo Strikers. Asked to bat first, Jaffna posted a good total of 173/5 in 20 overs with Towhid Hridoy top-scoring with 54 off 39 balls. Later, the Strikers got bundled out for 152 with Hardus Viljoen getting a three-wicket haul. The inaugural match of the season also had a heated moment, when pacer Naseem Shah dismissed Jaffna opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz and gave him a fiery send-off.
In the 3rd over of Jaffna’s innings, Gurbaz was caught by Ramesh Mendis on Naseem’s delivery and departed for 21 runs. To celebrate the dismissal, the Pakistan pacer got indulged in a wild celebration and even sledged Gurbaz while he was walking off. The Afghanistan wicketkeeper kept his cool and did not react to Naseem’s aggressive behaviour.
Naseem Shah is already making us look forward to Pakistan vs Afghanistan in the Asia Cup and in the World Cup. He loves his aggression #LPL2023 pic.twitter.com/T6uhQ1Dh6A
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) July 30, 2023
Earlier in the match, Gurbaz was dropped on 1 at the slip during Naseem’s over but he finally got hold of the batter in the third over and provided Colombo with their first breakthrough.
Coming to the match, Hridoy scored 54 off 39 balls while Dunith Wellalage remained unbeaten at 25 off 23 balls. For Colombo, Naseem, Matheesha Pathirana, Chamika Karunaratne, and Lakshan Sandakan scalped one wicket each.
Later, Colombo Strikers could not seal a win despite a 58-run knock from skipper Niroshan Dickwella. Babar Azam also failed to leave a mark as he was also dismissed for 7.
For Jaffna, Hardus Viljoen took three wickets while Dilshan Madushanka and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth scalped two wickets each. Skipper Thisara Perera also took one wicket.
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