LPL: Kandy Warriors defeat Galle Gladiators by 5 wickets

Kandy Warriors defeated the Galle Gladiators by 5 wickets in Saturday’s first match of the Lanka Premier League 2021 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Saturday. Kandy, who have not had the best of time in the tournament, put the Galle Gladiators under pressure by restricting them to 127 for 7 in their 20 overs. Kamindu Mendis was the pick of the bowlers for the Kandy Warriors, who picked up figures of 3/25. Nimesh Vimukthi also made a vital contribution with figures of 2/17.

Kandy Warriors romped to 131 for 5 wickets with Ravi Bopara leading the way with an unbeaten 34 along with Tom Moores’ 28 and Charith Asalanka’s 21. Kusal Mendis and Samit Patel were the highlights of Galle Gladiators’ batting card. Mendis played an innings of 44 runs from 34 balls, while Patel scored 36* off 32 balls.

Have enjoyed sharing my knowledge with youngsters in the LPL: Imran Tahir

South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who has taken 4 wickets in 4 matches for the Dambulla Giants in the ongoing season of the Lanka Premier League, expressed that he has enjoyed sharing his knowledge with the youngsters in the competition.

“I get a lot of joy from sharing my knowledge with youngsters. If they come and ask me something, then I feel it’s my duty to share my knowledge with them and I want to make a difference. The Lanka Premier League has provided a great platform for the local talent to showcase their skills. Players like Wanindu Hasaranga has gone on to become one of the most sought-after players in franchise leagues around the world,” said the leg-spinner, who has taken 424 wickets in 338 T20 matches.

Tahir added that the youngsters need to learn how to be successful in T20 cricket.

“The youngsters need to know how one can bowl really well in the T20 format by using pace, variations and different grips. We’ve got some really talented off-spinners and they bowl really well and we’ve got leg-spinners in our team as well. I am trying to help them as much as I can.”

“The art of leg-spin is a very exciting part of cricket”

The South African also spoke about the importance of leg-spinners in a cricket team.

“The art of leg-spin is a very exciting part of cricket. A leg-spinner can pick up two-three wickets in the middle and that’s very effective. Each team needs to have a good crop of leg-spinners as they are seen as the game changers. Even if you look at the top T20I bowlers in the ICC rankings, it’s dominated by leg-spinners. The top five in the list – Wanindu Hasaranga, Tabraiz Shamsi, Adam Zampa, Adil Rashid and Rashid Khan – are all leg-spinners. The game of cricket has changed over the years and it’s great to see leg-spinners performing well all over the world,” said Tahir.

Dambulla Giants’ leg-spinner Madushan Ravichandrakumar expressed that he is looking to learn a lot from Tahir during the Lanka Premier League.

“He is my role model. When I used to watch his matches, I used to eagerly wait for him to come on to bowl to learn from him. He has a lot of variations such as leg-spin, googly, flipper, top spin and his own kind of variations so I am trying to learn those from him. He opens his heart and he is always honest with his bowling and he is a great person to learn from. He’s a good mentor.”