Hridoy shines with willow as Jaffna Kings win in LPL

Tawhid Hridoy shone with the willow as Jaffna Kings beat Colombo Strikers by 19 runs in their sixth match of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) at Pallekele International Stadium in Sri Lanka on Tuesday night.

Before the last over, Jaffna scored 172 runs in 19 overs. At the crease, Tawhid Hridoy was only 1 off 2 balls. From there, the Bangladeshi batter’s batting spree began.

Hridoy hit three consecutive sixes in the first three balls of the last over bowled by Shahnewaz Dahani. He took two runs in the fourth ball.

Then he ended the innings with another six in the fifth ball and a four in the last ball. Hridoy scored an unbeaten 31 runs in just 8 balls, with a strike rate of 387.50. With this explosive cameo, Jaffna, who had scored 164 runs in 18 overs, scored a big total of 202 runs for the loss of five wickets in the stipulated 20 overs.

Earlier, Afghan opener Ibrahim Zadran laid the foundation for Jaffna’s innings. He played a brilliant innings of 95 runs off 65 balls and was run out. Another opener, Kamil Mishara, gave the team a flying start by scoring 44 runs off 19 balls.

Chasing a target of 203 runs, Colombo was under pressure from the start. Losing wickets at regular intervals, they could only reach 183 runs for the loss of nine wickets in the allotted 20 overs. As a result, Jaffna won by 19 runs.

Left-arm pacer Dilshan Madushanka was the most successful bowler for Jaffna. He took 4 wickets for 30 runs.

With this victory, Jaffna earned 8 points with four wins in six matches. Jaffna Kings took the second position in the points table.