Colombo Strikers and Galle Marvels will clash in match 19 of the 2024 Lanka Premier League (LPL) at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Monday, the 15th of July. While Galle are at number two on the points table having won 4 of their 6 encounters, Colombo is at number 3 - they have lost 3 of the 5 matches they have played in the tournament.

Galle defeated Colombo by 7 runs in the first fixture between the two teams this season in Pallekele on the 3rd of July.

DISCLAIMER: ALL STATS UPDATED TILL END OF MATCH 14 OF 2024 LPL

LAST 5 MATCHES

COLOMBO STRIKERS: WLWLL

GALLE MARVELS: WLWLW

CHAPTER PLATE 3 - LIKELY PLAYING XIs

Both the teams are unlikely to make any changes to their last playing XIs. While Colombo has a plethora of all-rounders, the strength of the Galle Marvels is their in-form batting unit.

COLOMBO STRIKERS likely XI

Batters: Glenn Phillips

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

Wicketkeeper: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sadeera Samarawickrama

Bowlers: Taskin Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana, Binura Fernando

GALLE MARVELS likely XI

Batters: Alex Hales, Tim Seifert, Janith Liyanage

Allrounders: Sahan Arachchige, Dwaine Pretorius, Isuru Udana

Wicketkeeper: Niroshan Dickwella, Bhanuka Rajapaksa

Bowlers: Kavindu Nadeeshan, Prabath Jayasuriya, Maheesh Theekshana

Statistical Performance (Colombo Strikers)

1. GLENN PHILLIPS

Glenn Phillips has been in red-hot form and hammered three fifties in his last three matches this season. He will be the batter to watch out for in the Colombo XI.

GLENN PHILLIPS IN 2024 LPL

2. SHADAB KHAN

Shadab Khan has been brilliant with the ball for Colombo this season. Shadab is at number two on the wickets-tally and has returned with 10 wickets in just 5 matches at an average of 11.1!

SHADAB KHAN IN 2024 LPL

Players Who Can Make a Difference (Colombo Strikers)

1. DUNITH WELLALAGE

Dunith Wellalage has bagged 5 wickets in as many matches and is also a useful batter in the lower-order. He has an impressive record as a bowler in the LPL with 21 wickets in 20 innings at a strike rate of 16.2 and economy of 6.63.

2. MATHEESHA PATHIRANA

Pathirana has been a touch expensive in the tournament but is a world-class operator with a fine record in T20 cricket. The right-arm fast bowler has bagged 83 wickets in just 59 matches at a strike rate of 14.4!

Statistical Performance (Galle Marvels)

1. ALEX HALES

Alex Hales is the leading run-getter for Galle Marvels this season and the third-highest overall. He will go ballistic in the powerplay and is one of the most destructive batters against the new ball in T20 cricket.

ALEX HALES IN 2024 LPL

2. ISURU UDANA

Isuru Udana is the leading wicket-taker of the tournament so far with 11 wickets in 6 matches at a strike rate of 12.54.

ISURU UDANA IN 2024 LPL

Players Who Can Make a Difference (Galle Marvels)

1. TIM SEIFERT

Tim Seifert is the HOT PICK for Galle Marvels. He has hammered 224 runs in 6 innings at a strike rate of 148.3 with one hundred and one fifty in the tournament.

2. MAHEESH THEEKSHANA

Maheesh Theekshana has picked 6 wickets in as many matches in the tournament and been quite restrictive with an economy rate of 7.20.

Team head to head

Venue and Pitch

The Premadasa Stadium in Colombo has hosted 45 T20 matches since the start of 2022 and it has been a neck to neck contest between the team batting first and chasing. The team batting first has won 21 matches and the team batting second has won 22 matches in this time-frame. The captain who has won the toss has elected to bat first on 23 occasions and chase on 21 instances. It is a great toss to win in Colombo as the captain who has called it right has won 29 of the 45 matches for a win probability of 64.44%!

The average first innings team total at RPS is 153 while the average score chasing is 136. The highest score is 252 while the lowest score is 74! While the pitch is conducive both to pace and spin, the fast bowlers have a better strike rate while the spinners have been more restrictive.

MATCH PREDICTION

Galle Marvels will have the edge in the contest as they have more batters in form in the tournament. Based on the relative strength of both teams, Galle Marvels have a 60% chance of winning the encounter.

Fantasy XI

And finally this is our Fantasy XI, in which we have Noroshan Dickwella as the designated keeper and Bhanuka Rajapaksa as the additional keeper batter. Specialist batters include Glenn Phillips and Alex Hales. The allrounders are Shadab Khan, Isuru Udana, Dunith Wellalage aur Dwaine Pretorius. The three frontline bowlers will be Matheesha Pathirana, Binura Fernando aur Maheesh Theekshana. The captain of the Fantasy XI will be Glenn Phillips while the vice-captain is Alex Hales.

Fantasy XI

Wicketkeeper: Niroshan Dickwella, Bhanuka Rajapaksa

Batters: Glenn Phillips (C), Alex Hales (VC)

Allrounders: Shadab Khan, Isuru Udana, Dwaine Pretorius, Dunith Wellalage

Bowlers: Matheesha Pathirana, Binura Fernando, Maheesh Theekshana

BACKUP PLAYERS:

BATTER – Tim Seifert

BOWLER – Taskin Ahmed

ALL-ROUNDER – Angelo Perera