The Colombo Stars defeated the Galle Gladiators by two wickets on Tuesday at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium thanks to a quick-fire 31-run performance from Ravi Bopara.
Galle Gladiators put up a strong score of 193 while batting first, losing only 5 wickets.
The Colombo Stars scored 197/8 in 20 overs while chasing a large goal. Stars' innings got off to a bad start when they lost the opening wicket after only scoring three runs. The only runs Niroshan Dickwella could muster were two. To keep Colombo Stars in the hunt, Dinesh Chandimal (age 63) and Charith Asalanka (age 46) played brilliantly. Asalanka scored three boundaries and two sixes, compared to Chandimal's six boundaries and three sixes.
Benny Howell scored 22 runs but it was Bopara who took Colombo Stars to victory. He hit five boundaries and a six. Nuwan Thushara and Anwar Ali took three wickets each for Galle Gladiators.
Earlier, Galle Gladiators were forced to bowl first after losing the toss. For Galle Gladiators, Thanuka Dabare and captain Kusal Mendis opened the innings. Both the batters played brilliant knocks to give a good start to Galle Gladiators. Mendis scored the most runs for the team as he hit 72 runs off 49 balls including five boundaries and four sixes.
On the other hand, Dabare hit 33 runs off 22 balls. His inning included four boundaries and a six. Asad Shafiq played a quick-fire knock of 58 runs late in the innings to take Galle Gladiators to a big total. For Colombo Stars, Naveen-ul-Haq was the pick of the bowler, as he took two wickets from his allotted four overs.