Shoriful shines, Taskin and Fizz fall flat in LPL

Bangladesh's pace-bowling trio Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed had contrasting experiences in their respective matches in the ongoing Lanka Premier League.  

Shoriful, playing for Kandy Falcons, starred with figures of two for 43 from his four overs but his side succumbed to a six-wicket loss against Galle Marvels, while Dambulla Sixers' Mustafizur dished out one of his poorer displays as he went wicketless having conceded 53 runs in his full quota. But his side cruised to an eight-wicket victory against Taskin Ahmed's Colombo Strikers. Taskin also was expensive as he conceded 45 runs but managed to pick up two wickets. 

Kandy posted 175 for seven, courtesy of half-centuries from Andre Fletcher (50 off 36) and Wanindu Hasaranga (65 off 32). Shoriful, who dismissed Niroshan Dickwella and Bhanuka Rajapaksa, was the best bowler for Kandy on the day but his efforts were not enough as Galle chased down the target in 17.1 overs. Tim Seifert hit an unbeaten 49-ball 82 to spearhead a successful chase for Galle. 

In the other match, Mustafizur, Dambulla's most expensive bowler, struggled to find a foothold in the game and could do very little to keep a lid on proceedings as Glenn Phillips' half-century (52 off 36) and cameos Angelo Perera (41 off 27) and Chamika Karunaratne (27 off 12) propelled Colombo to 185 for six. In reply, Dambulla openers Reeza Hendricks (54 off 39) and Kusal Perera (80 off 50) smashed half-centuries and put together a 154-run opening stand to take their side to the brink of victory before Taskin removed both the batters in the 15thover. A 10-ball 23-run blitz from Mark Chapman followed and it sealed the game for Dambulla.