Sri Lanka T20 League, 2022

Qualifier 1: KF vs JK

Preview

KF and JK will cross swords for Qualifier 1 of the Sri Lanka T20 League. The match is scheduled at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Saturday, December 10. The Kandy side has finished in the first spot winning 7 out of 8 games. On the other hand, the Jaffna side has won 6 out of the overall 8 games, but coincidentally both their losses came against KF and they will have a daunting task to fight back and win this game. 

Kandy clashed with Jaffna in the 6th match for the first time this season. In that match, KF chased down a total of  148 runs with Ashen Bandara (44 off 39 balls) and opener Pathum Nissanka (29 off 24 balls) to win the match by 3 wickets. The bowling side played a very important role in restricting the run flow as Udana, Allen and skipper Hasaranga took two wickets each which never allowed a batter to settle on the field. 

Also in their second encounter in the 13th match, KF scored 160 runs, batting in the first position. Fabian Allen smashed 47 runs off just 23 balls with a strike rate of 204.35, playing the role of a perfect finisher. Wellalage, Madushanka, Salamkheil and Fuller shared two wickets each, but there was a potential leakage of runs in the first half of the innings. This time JK came close to fetching their revenge, Samarawickrama made the chase easier scoring 48 runs off 41 balls but the other eight batters were completely clueless regarding the opponent bowlers. Skipper Hasaranga picked two wickets and Carlos Brathwaite went on to take a four-fer to win the match by a mere margin of 10 runs. 

Match Details

Match:  KF vs JK, Qualifier-1, Sri Lanka T20 League 2022

Date: Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Time: 03:00 PM

Venue: R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Pitch and Weather Report

The pitch on the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo is expected to aid both batters and spinners as witnessed in the previous matches played on this ground. Fans could take this as a high-scoring clash. The surface is sluggish and low in bounce with the pitch being flat. Dew will play a vital role for the team chasing the target on this ground.

As the stadium is away from the sea, the dew is an important factor as the ball gets tough to hold resulting in match-winning run chases in the white-ball format of the game.

The weather is expected to be cloudy on Sunday with a 60% chance of precipitation. The maximum and minimum temperatures will be 29 and 23 degrees celsius with an 80% humidity rate.

Squads

KF: Pathum Nissanka, Andre Fletcher (wk), Ashen Bandara, Kamindu Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga (c), Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Isuru Udana, Ashian Daniel, Zahoor Khan, Najibullah Zadran, Kaveen Bandara, Minod Bhanuka, Ashan Priyanjan, Malinda Pushpakumara, Ahmed Daniyal, Matheesha Pathirana, Oshane Thomas, Chamindu Wijesinghe, Lasith Abeyratne, Janith Liyanage, Avishka Perera

JK: Avishka Fernando, Ashan Randika, Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Shoaib Malik, Thisara Perera (c), Dunith Wellalage, James Fuller, Maheesh Theekshana, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Zaman Khan, Asitha Fernando, Praveen Jayawickrama, Nipun Dananjaya, Waqar Salamkheil, Dilshan Madushanka, Theivendiram Dinoshan, Suminda Lakshan, Theesan Vithushan, James Neesham, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Binura Fernando

Probable Playing XIs

KF: Pathum Nissanka, Andre Fletcher (wk), Kamindu Mendis, Ashen Bandara, Najibullah Zadran, Wanindu Hasaranga (c), Carlos Brathwaite, Fabian Allen, Chamika Karunaratne, Isuru Udana, Chamindu Wijesinghe

JK: Avishka Fernando, Ashan Randika, Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Shoaib Malik, Thisara Perera (c), Dunith Wellalage, James Fuller, Maheesh Theekshana, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Zaman Khan

Match Prediction

KF and JK both have strong bowling side and their bowlers have proven in every aspect of this tournament. They don’t have many flaws in their team, but when we compare their batters, the Kandy franchise has a superior batting side. This is the sole reason why we are backing KF to win this match.

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