Colombo Strikers will clash with Kandy Falcons in the Eliminator of the 2024 Lanka Premier League (LPL) at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Thursday. Colombo were beaten by Dambulla Sixers in their last group stage encounter and finished third on the points table with four wins and as many losses from eight matches. On the other hand, Kandy defeated Dambulla by 54 runs in their last group fixture and ended at number four on the points table with 3 wins and 5 losses. Colombo has beaten Kandy in both their group stage matches this season.

LAST 5 MATCHES

COLOMBO STRIKERS: LLWWL

KANDY FALCONS: LWLLW

CHAPTER PLATE 3 - LIKELY PLAYING XIs

Both the teams are unlikely to make any changes to their last playing XIs.

COLOMBO STRIKERS likely XI

Batters: Glenn Phillips, Muhammad Waseem

Allrounders: Thisara Perera, Angelo Perera, Shadab Khan, Dunith Wellalage

Wicketkeeper: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sadeera Samarawickrama

Bowlers: Matheesha Pathirana, Binura Fernando, Isitha Wijesundara

KANDY FALCONS likely XI

Batters: Kamindu Mendis

Allrounders: Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ramesh Mendis, Chamath Gomez, Chaturanga de Silva

Wicketkeeper: Andre Fletcher, Dinesh Chandimal, Mohammad Haris

Bowlers: Mohammad Hasnain

Statistical Performance (Colombo Strikers)

1. RAHMANULLAH GURBAZ

Rahmanullah Gurbaz is the second-highest run-getter for Colombo this season with an aggregate of 209 runs in 8 matches at a strike rate of 158.3. He will be vital in the powerplay.

RAHMANULLAH GURBAZ IN 2024 LPL

2. SHADAB KHAN

Shadab Khan has been brilliant with the ball for Colombo this season. He is the highest run-getter of the season and will be the main strike bowler for Colombo in the middle overs. He has also been brilliantly restrictive.

SHADAB KHAN IN 2024 LPL

Players Who Can Make a Difference (Colombo Strikers)

1. GLENN PHILLIPS

Glenn Phillips has been in red-hot form with the bat and blasted three fifties this season. Phillips is a destructive middle-order batter and a very good player of spin bowling. He has an aggregate of 252 runs in 7 innings at a strike rate of 141.57 in the tournament.

2. MATHEESHA PATHIRANA

Pathirana is a world-class operator with a fine record in T20 cricket. He is known for his ability to produce the yorkers in the death overs. The right-arm fast bowler has bagged 12 wickets in 8 matches at a strike rate of 13.8 and economy of 8.16 in the tournament.

Statistical Performance (Kandy Falcons)

1. DINESH CHANDIMAL

Dinesh Chandimal is the leading run-getter for Kandy this season with an aggregate of 270 runs in 8 matches at a brilliant strike rate of 173!

DINESH CHANDIMAL IN 2024 LPL

2. ANDRE FLETCHER

Andre Fletcher has also been in top-notch form for Kandy this season and has scored 263 runs in 8 innings including three fifties.

ANDRE FLETCHER IN 2024 LPL

Players Who Can Make a Difference (Kandy Falcons)

1. Wanindu Hasaranga

Wanindu Hasaranga is the HOT PICK for Kandy Falcons. Not only has he bagged 12 wickets in the tournament but also produced cameos with an overall strike rate of 189 in the tournament!

2. Dasun Shanaka

Dasun Shanaka has bagged 12 wickets in 8 matches for Kandy in LPL 2024 at an excellent strike rate of 11.5. He is also a dangerous hitter in the lower-order capable of clearing any boundary in the world.

Team Head to Head

Colombo have dominated Kandy in the LPL and won 7 of the 9 matches between the two teams since 2020!

COLOMBO STRIKERS VS KANDY FALCONS - HEAD TO HEAD RECORD

MATCHES: 9

COLOMBO WON: 7

KANDY WON: 2

NO RESULT: 0

Venue and Pitch

The Premadasa Stadium in Colombo has hosted 6 matches in this tournament. The team batting first has won two matches while the team chasing has been victorious in three. There has been one tied encounter. Interestingly, the captain who has won the toss has elected to chase in all 6 matches this season! The captain who has won the toss has won 3 of the 6 six matches for a win probability of 50%.

Excluding the Kandy vs Jaffna 2024 LPL encounter which was a rain-reduced 7 overs a side content, the average first innings team total at RPS in LPL 2024 is 148 while the average score chasing is 133. Interestingly, the highest score at the venue this season is Kandy's 222/4 in their last encounter in Colombo against Dambulla. The lowest total is Colombo's 95 also in their last match at the venue against Dambulla.

Spinners have outshone the fast bowlers in Colombo this season. The pacers have bagged 42 wickets at a strike rate of 15.4 and economy of 8.37 while the spinners have picked 35 wickets also at a strike rate of 15.4 but economy of 6.77!

MATCH PREDICTION

Colombo Strikers start as favourites against Kandy Falcons in the Eliminator. They have dominated the head to head record including the two wins in the group stage this season. Colombo have a 60% chance of winning the match.

Fantasy XI

And finally our Fantasy XI includes two in-form batters in Glenn Phillips and Andre Fletcher and two other wicket-keeper batters in Dinesh Chandimal and Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Our all-rounders are Shadab Khan, Matthews, Wellalage, Shanaka and Hasaranga and our bowlers will include Pathirana and Binura Fernando.

The captain of the fantasy XI will be Hasaranga while the vice-captain will be Phillips.

Fantasy XI:

Wicketkeeper: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Dinesh Chandimal, Andre Fletcher

Batters: Glenn Phillips (VC)

Allrounders: Shadab Khan, Dunith Wellalage, Dasun Shanaka, Angelo Mathews, Wanindu Hasaranga (C)

Bowlers: Matheesha Pathirana, Binura Fernando

BACKUP PLAYERS:

BATTER – Muhammad Waseem

BOWLER – Isitha Wijesundara

ALL-ROUNDER – Angelo Perera

Read Also: 'some are close, some are colleagues': naveen-ul-haq point-blank on virat kohli fight amid amit mishra's 'respect' claim