Sports
Mathews stars as B-Love Kandy emerge LPL Champions
After a disappointing and unconvincing start, B-Love Kandy got their act together as they went on to win the fourth edition of the Lanka Premier League beating Dambulla Aura in the finals at RPS on Sunday.
A newly formed franchise that had the backing of former international stars like Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Mohammad Azharuddin, B-Love Kandy had little momentum at the start of the competition. However, they were back on track and despite a tough road to the final managed to beat the inform Dambulla Aura in a last-over thriller.
B-Love Kandy were handicapped as they were without the services of their superstar all-rounder and captain Wanindu Hasaranga due to injury while Dushmantha Chameera and Isuru Udana too were ruled out.
Angelo Mathews standing in for Hasaranga led the side well to give his team a memorable win in front of a packed house.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe was present to witness the final. He’s seen here in conversation with SLC President Shammi Silva. Presidential advisor Sagala Ratnayake also was present.
It was a fabulous show by Sri Lanka Cricket over the last three weeks as there were several close contests and interest levels soared among fans. Unlike the first three editions record crowds turned up at venues and the gate collection was impressive and the board generously donated towards the Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital.
Mathews was named Man of the Match as he gave the national selectors another reminder that the Sri Lankan team will be better off with him in the white ball side.
Not only did he score an unbeaten 25 during a nervy run chase but bowled well with the new ball and came back to send down the death overs apart from being agile on the field.
Dambulla Aura probably had the best batting unit in the competition and the batters fired posting 147 for four. Dhananjaya de Silva top scored with 40 off 29 balls with three sixes while Kusal Perera hit 31 off 25 balls with three fours and one six.
Angelo Mathews was named Man of the Match in the final as B-Love Kandy beat Dambulla Aura. Mathews skippered the side in the absence of Wanindu Hasaranga.
Sadeera Samarawickrama too made 36 off 30 balls with five fours while captain Kusal Mendis chipped in with 22.
Chaturanga de Silva was the pick of the bowlers with his left-arm spin fetching two wickets in the absence of his younger brother Hasaranga.
Mohammad Harris and Kamindu Mendis gave a good start for B-Love Kandy adding 49 runs for the first wicket while Dinesh Chandimal with less than run a ball 24 kept the scoreboard ticking before Mathews provided the finishing touches.
Noor Ahmed picked up three wickets while Binura Fernando picked up two wickets.
Interestingly, none of the players who featured in the final representing the champion B-Love Kandy team will be part of Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup campaign.
On Saturday, New Zealand had nervously tuned into Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, wondering if they could sneak into the semi-final. Matt Henry was on the way back home from Colombo for the birth of his second child. New Zealand’s build-up to the semi-final was just as uncertain as they waited anxiously for their bowling spearhead to return. On Wednesday, their performance in the semi-final was anything but uncertain as they KO’d South Africa, who were unbeaten until this game, and launched New Zealand into their second men’s T20 World Cup final.
After their attack welcomed Henry back and limited South Africa to 169 for 8 on a slower-than-usual Eden Gardens track, Finn Allen took centerstage and crashed a 33-ball century, the fastest ever in a men’s T20 World Cup, to make a mockery of the chase. Just as Allen was soaking in his sensational century in the middle, Tim Seifert, the other half of New Zealand’s Bash Brothers, pumped his fist in the dugout. New Zealand completed the demolition job with nine wickets and just more than seven overs to spare.
Mitchell Santner handed the new ball to offspin-bowling allrounder Cole McConchie in the second over, and he aced his match-up, taking out the left-handed pair of Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton in the only over he bowled.
De Kock threw the first punch at McConchie when he swiped him over mid-on for four. McConchie then punched back next ball by darting one into the pitch and having de Kock pop a catch to mid-on for 10 off eight balls. It was the third time in five innings that de Kock was dismissed by an offspinner in this competition.
Rickelton, at No.3, had a crack at an offbreak next ball and ended up slicing a cut to short third for a golden duck. Brevis then avoided the hat-trick, but McConchie, the 18th player included in New Zealand’s T20 World Cup squad, had done his job.
With the two left-handers gone and the powerplay done, Santner introduced himself into the attack and conceded just three runs off the seventh over. The New Zealand captain helped offset the damage caused by a 17-run powerplay over from Jimmy Neesham, who had replaced legspinner Ish Sodhi.
Rachin Ravindra then struck in his first over, tossing up one at Aiden Markram’s stumps and having him caught at long-on for 18 off 20 balls. Daryl Mitchell charged in from long-on, dived forward and plucked it inches from the ground. Replays suggested it was touch-and-go, but Nitin Menon, the TV umpire, eventually ruled it as a clean catch.
After dropping Markram on 3 at midwicket, Ravindra enjoyed redemption with the ball.
Against the left-handed David Miller, Ravindra hiked his pace and aimed to hide the ball away from his swinging arc. Ravindra could have had Miller on 3 but Glenn Phillips, believe it or not, dropped a catch in the outfield. Miller added three to his tally before chipping Ravindra to Mitchell at long-off for a regulation catch. Ravindra finished with 2 for 29 in his four overs, extending his own tournament tally to 11. Among spinners, only Varun Chakravarthy, the No.1-ranked T20I bowler, has more wickets than him in this T20 World Cup.
Dewald Brevis flickered briefly for 34 off 27 balls before he was undone by the slowness of the Eden pitch. He jabbed at a drive early and ended up spooning Neesham to Santner at cover. South Africa were 77 for 5 at that point.
Marco Jansen then combined with Tristan Stubbs for a 73-run partnership for the sixth wicket – a new record for South Africa in men’s T20Is. Despite the clatter of wickets, Jansen showed his power and composure. After charging at Ravindra, his former team-mate at Washington Freedom in the MLC, and lofting him for six, Jansen lined Henry up for a no-look six over wide long-on.
He reached his half-century off 27 balls, with a six off Neesham, and finished with his T20I career best of 55 off 30 balls, including two fours and five sixes. Lockie Ferguson snapped the stand in the 19th over when he castled Stubbs for 29 off 24 balls with a nifty legcutter from around the wicket. Henry then closed out the innings with a six-run over, which also included the wickets of Corbin Bosch and Kagiso Rabada. Jansen’s half-century, though, gave South Africa’s attack something to bowl at.
That something soon turned into next to nothing once Allen took off in the chase as the dew set in at Eden Gardens. Allen faced 33 balls and sent 18 of those to or over the boundary. Rabada tried his legcutter, Lungi Ngidi dipped into his slower dipper, Jansen tried to bang it away on a hard length and Bosch offered pace, but nothing worked against Allen.
After reaching his fifty off 19 balls, Allen stormed to his ton off 33 balls. Allen shattered Chris Gayle’s previous T20 World Cup record of a 47-ball hundred against England in 2016.
It was Seifert who had made the early running, contributing 41 of the 62 New Zealand had scored in the first five overs of their chase. In the final over of the powerplay, Allen carted Bosch for a sequence of 6,4,4,4,4 as New Zealand finished with 84 for 0. It was the second-highest powerplay score in this T20 World Cup and the highest powerplay score across all knockout games in the T20 World Cup.
From thereon, it was all about Allen and his brute power. If this was a bat-off for an IPL opening spot at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Allen won it emphatically. South Africa found some respite when Rabada removed Seifert for 58, but Allen finished it off in grand style at Eden Gardens, in the company of Ravindra, another Knight Rider.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 173 for 1 in 12.5 overs (Finn Allen 100*, Tim Seifert 58, Rachin Ravindra 13*; Kagiso Rabada 1-28) beat South Africa 169 for 8 in 20 overs (Aiden Markram 18, Quinton de Kock 10, Marco Jansen 55*, Dewald Brevis 34, Tristan Stubbs 29; Matt Henry 2-34, Cole McConchie 2-09, Lockie Ferguson 1-29, James Neesham 1-42, Rachin Ravindra 2-29) by nine wickets
[Cricinfo]
New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl first in the first semi-final at Eden Gardens
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (capt), James Neesham, Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, 11 Lockie Ferguson
South Africa: Aiden Markram (capt), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
The good thing about South Africa – New Zealand semi-finals is it gives neutrals at least one team to cheer for in the final. Two generally likeable sides who have – somehow – yet to lift an ICC white-ball trophy between them since 2000 vie for yet one more crack at it, as they look to edge each other out. South Afria’s heartache c in these tournaments is well-documented, but New Zealand make semi finals more consistently than any other side over the past two decades, and are yet to string the two matches together from this stage onwards that would propel them to glory.
There is, often, little to choose between these two but, this time around, a clear favourite has emerged. South Africa are unbeaten this tournament, and that includes a trouncing, of New Zealand in the group stages. They have played all their games in India, which has allowed them to make full use of their fast bowlers without needing to turn to spin in any extensive way, which plays into their strengths.
With 268 runs at a strike rate of 175, captain Aiden Markram has been arguably the best opener in the tournament, while a middle- and lower-order comprising Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen is the envy of any side in the competition. In Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi – the highest wicket-taker remaining in the tournament – they have high pace as well as great variety, with Keshav Maharaj getting through the spin overs. It is hard to imagine how South Africa could have covered all bases more comprehensively.
New Zealand’s campaign has proved much less straightforward, and it is harder to gauge the true nature of their quality and their ability to contend for this title. They beat Afghanistan, Canada and the UAE through the group stages, before a washout against Pakistan and defeat to England left them relying on an external result to qualify. They owe their place in the last four to a commanding win over Sri Lanka, one which had its own hiccups along the way.
They have had to adjust, though, playing their group matches in India before going off to Sri Lanka for the Super Eight. They are back in India again, with Kolkata the venue for the semi-final, which will likely see them pull back their use of spin and turn to the quicker bowlers again. Their strength is a gun top-order, with Finn Allen and Tim Seifert in consistently explosive form, and great flexibility with the ball thanks to a surfeit of allrounders, a deep batting order, and fast bowlers than can neatly blend back into the side for spinners without disrupting the balance of the line-up.
Both sides have been knocking on the door for silverware for long enough. Once more, they chip away at it in the hope that this time, their efforts will be enough to blow the house down.
Rachin Ravindra was the stand out player in Lahore last year, the last time these two sides met in an ICC semi-final at the 2025 Champions Trophy. He scored a century that set New Zealand on its way before keeping things tight with the ball. At this tournament, he played a central two-in-one role for New Zealand in the Super Eight in Colombo where the ball gripped and stopped, but on the flatter strips of Eden Gardens it is with the bat that he will be more important to New Zealand. Ravindra has a phenomenally good ICC record, but at this tournament, his batting hasn’t quite clicked in the same way. All that can be put to rest facing a team against whom he has enjoyed big-match success.
Aiden Markram has towered over almost any other batter at this tournament, and is the highest run-scorer among sides still alive. He saved his best innings for the game against New Zealand in the groups, pulverising an unbeaten 86 off 44 to seal a comfortable win. It is one of three destructive half-centuries he has scored at this World Cup. His clean aerial hitting through the powerplay has proven almost impossible to counter for bowlers when in this kind of form, especially if he cannot be snared early, as India and Zimbabwe recently managed. Markram has also demonstrated his ability to rise to the biggest of occasions, as evidenced by his fourth innings hundred in the World Test Championship final against Australia last year. A semi-final here is unlikely to overawe him.
Matt Henry arrives in Kolkata tonight after returning home for the birth of his second child. He will not train, but is likely to line up in the XI on Wednesday. With New Zealand returning to the less spin-friendly India, Ish Sodhi might make way for Jimmy Neesham.
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (capt), Cole McConchie/Jacob Duffy, Jimmy Neesham, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson
South Africa’s top seven is set in stone. On a pitch as flat as Kolkata’s, they are unlikely to go with any more than one spinner.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram (capt), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
[Cricinfo]
Flying Finn launches New Zealand into the final with record ton
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