‘Babar Azam team me hoga toh haar pakki hai’ – Fans react as Jaffna Kings defeat Colombo Stikers by 21 runs in LPL 2023 opener

The defending champions, Jaffna Kings locked horns with Colombo Strikers in the first match of the fourth edition of the Lanka Premier League at R.Premadasa Stadium, in Colombo on Sunday, July 30. Jaffana Kings won the match by 21 runs and Vijayakamth Viyaskanth was awarded the Player of the  Match for his magnificent bowling spell in the match. He snapped two wickets in his spell of four overs and conceded 17 runs.

Colombo Strikers won the toss and elected to bowl first. Jaffana Kings, while batting first, scored a total of 173 runs with the loss of five wickets after the completion of the first innings. The highest scorer for the side was Towhid Hridoy. He scored 54 runs off 39 balls with four fours and one six in his innings. For the Colombo side, one wicket each was grabbed by Naseem Shah, Matheesha Pathirana, Chamika Karunaratne, and Lakshan Sandakan in their respective spells.

If someone is gone, I don’t worry about it, we build another team: Thisara Perera

While chasing a target of 174 runs, the Colombo side was bundled out for 152 runs after batting for 19.4 overs. The highest scorer for the side was their skipper, Niroshan Dickwella, who scored 58 runs from 34 balls with nine fours and a six in his innings. The pick of the bowler for the Jaffana side was Hardus Viljoen, who grabbed three wickets in his spell of four overs where he conceded 31 runs in the spell. Two wickets each were bagged by Viyaskanth and Dilshan Madhushanka, and one wicket was taken by their skipper, Thisara Perera.

“[On his chats with R Ashwin] We are talking on Instagram daily. Today also I told him I was playing, he messaged good luck. Every time we talk we are talking friendly. I don’t have any plan, just bowl wicket to wicket and also supported by Thisara Perera,” Viyaskanth was quoted as saying after recieving the Player of the Match award.

“Really good start to the 4th edition. We did a great job. Very confident about my players. If someone is gone, I don’t worry about it, we build another team. David Miller and Nandre Burger have already arrived and they will be available for the next game,” Perera was quoted as saying in the post-match presentation after the victory.

Here’s how fans reacted:

https://twitter.com/kohliRcb18/status/1685709009205227520?s=20

https://twitter.com/arshadk87/status/1685708863830450177?s=20

Where's Pakistani there's Bad Luck..Panauti Players

— K (@Neon_Boye0) July 30, 2023

Oper ja kar phela Mach hara diya Karachi rota hai abb Colombo ko rula dega

— Ekam Sandhu (@EkamSandhu1981) July 30, 2023

I blame Babar's statpedding

— Ugma Ram #Chandrayaan3 (@ugma_ram_) July 30, 2023

gobar azam panoti 😂

— karan (@void_sprit_) July 30, 2023

Babar hatao Colombo strikers team bacaho 🤣🤣

— Rimon 🇮🇳 (@SekhRimon) July 30, 2023

Zimbabar 😀

— Madhavarao Korada (@Madhavarao59353) July 30, 2023