The Colombo Kings (abbreviated as CK) is a franchise Twenty20 cricket team based in Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka, that competed in the inaugural Lanka Premier League in 2020. The team is owned by Murfad Mustafa, an Indian businessman based in Dubai. For the season, the team was coached by Rangana Herath. Angelo Mathews served as captain, and was also announced as the icon player. Andre Russell, a Jamaican, was named as the marquee foreign player in the inaugural season. English batsman Laurie Evans made the most runs, while Afghan bowler Qais Ahmad took the most wickets for the Lanka's league.
The team was the most successful team of the season, winning six out of eight matches,Standings LPL T20 though they lost in the semi-final against Galle Gladiators.
Season summary The Kings defeated the Kandy Tuskers in the league's inaugural match. The Tuskers scored 219/3 with the help of captain Kusal Mendis, who scored 87 runs off 52 balls. The Kings also scored 219 runs, which meant the game went to a super over. In the super over, the Tuskers scored 12/0 runs in reply to 16/1 runs by the Kings.
In Game 2, against the Galle Gladiators, the match was reduced to 5 overs per side because of rain. Andre Russell scored 65 runs off 19 balls to propel the Kings to 96 runs, while Galle could muster only 62 runs in response. The Kings' batting fluctuated in Game 3 as they were bowled out for just 149 runs in response to the 175 runs by Dambulla Viiking. With this loss, the Kings' unbeaten winning run came to an end.
In the Game 4, the team's bowlers restricted the Jaffna Stallions to 148/9. The Stallions' Wanindu Hasaranga scored 41 runs off 23 balls. The Kings chased the total down, winning the game by six wickets.
In Game 5, the Kings' Qais Ahmed picked up 2 wickets while also conceding eight runs from his four overs. The Kings bowled out the Tuskers for just 105 runs. In response, the Kings chased the total down inside of 15 overs to win the match by seven wickets. In Game 6, the Kings faced the Gladiators for the second time in the season. The Kings were bowled out for 175 runs, with Pakistani bowler Mohammed Amir taking a fifer. The Kings bowlers failed to defend their total, as they lost the game by eight wickets.
In Game 7 against the Stallions, the Colombo Kings batted first, with their opener Laurie Evans scoring 108 runs off 65 balls. This was also the LPL's first-ever century, and it helped lift the Kings to another win. In the last game of the group stage, Ahmed performed with both bat and ball. He first took 2-23 wickets from his four overs before hitting 50 runs off 22 balls. This gave the Kings another win, and they finished first on the table.
In the semi-final, the Kings opposed the Gladiators. They were impeccable with the bowling, the pace trio of Amir, Nuwan Thushara, and Dhananjaya Lakshan giving away just 80 runs in 12 overs, and picking up four wickets. However, with the batting, the Gladiators had enough opportunity to steal the win from Kings. When the game reached its final over, the Gladiators needed 15 off 6 balls. Lakshan struck two sixes, and Lakshan Sandakan later concluded the game by striking a four, giving the Kings the loss.
Squad Players with international caps are listed in bold Ages given as of 26 November 2020, the date the first match was played in the tournament no. Name Nationality Date of birth (age) Batting style Bowling style Notes Batsmen3 Ashan Priyanjan Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast13Faf du Plessis Right-handedRight-arm leg-breakOverseasN/ARavinderpal SinghRight-handed—OverseasN/AKarim SadiqRight-handedRight-arm offbreakOverseas27Lahiru UdaraRight-handed—N/ANavod ParanavithanaLeft-handedLeft-arm slow-medium32 Laurie EvansRight-handedRight-arm medium-fastOverseas23 Daniel Bell-DrummondRight-handedRight-arm mediumOverseas All-rounders69Angelo MathewsRight-handedRight-arm fast-medium Captain, Icon player50Isuru UdanaRight-handedLeft-arm fast-medium16Thikshila de SilvaRight-handedRight-arm fast-medium12Andre RussellRight-handedRight-arm fastOverseas marquee playerN/AManpreet GonyRight-handedRight-arm mediumOverseas8 Mohammad HafeezRight-handedRight-arm off breakOverseasN/AHimesh RamanayakeRight-handedRight-arm medium-fastN/ATharindu RatnayakeLeft-handedLeft-arm off-break Wicket-keepersN/ADinesh ChandimalRight-handedRight-arm off breakN/AManvinder BislaRight-handed—Overseas Bowlers5Dushmantha ChameeraRight-handedRight-arm fast17Amila AponsoRight-handedSlow left-arm orthodox46Jeffrey VandersayRight-handedRight-arm leg break34Tharindu KaushalRight-handedRight-arm off break30 Dhammika PrasadRight-handedRight-arm fast-medium50 Qais AhmadRight-handedRight-arm leg-breakOverseasN/AKalana PereraLeft-handed Left-arm medium-fast SourcesLPL 2020 squads: The complete team lists for every Lanka Premier League team Wisden
Teams and standings Points table
Matches + denotes the winning team. denotes the losing team. Date Opponent Toss Result Man of the match Notes 26 November Kandy Tuskers Colombo Kings elected to field. Colombo Kings won by 5 runs. Dinesh Chandimal Won in super over. 28 November Galle Gladiators Galle Gladiators elected to field. Colombo Kings won by 34 runs. Andre Russell 1 December Dambulla Viiking Dambulla Viiking elected to bat. Dambulla Viiking won by 28 runs. Dasun Shanaka 4 December Jaffna Stallions Colombo Kings elected to field. Colombo Kings won by 6 wickets. Dinesh Chandimal 5 December Kandy Tuskers Kandy Tuskers elected to bat. Colombo Kings won by 7 wickets. Dushmantha Chameera 7 December Galle Gladiators Colombo Kings elected to bat. Galle Gladiators won by 8 wickets. Mohammad Amir 10 December Jaffna Stallions Jaffna Stallions elected to field. Colombo Kings won by 6 wickets. Laurie Evans 11 December Dambulla Viiking Colombo Kings elected to field. Colombo Kings won by 6 wickets. Qais Ahmad 13 December Galle Gladiators Galle Gladiators elected to field. Galle Gladiators won by 2 wickets. Dhananjaya Lakshan Lost the semi-final.
Statistics Most runs + * indicates a player who remained not out. Batsman Matches Runs Highest score Laurie Evans 8 289 108* Dinesh Chandimal 9 246 80 Andre Russell 8 169 65* Daniel Bell-Drummond 7 151 70 Ashan Priyanjan 9 102 47*
Most wickets + Notation 3/24 denotes 3 wickets obtained by 24 runs. Bowler Matches Wickets Best bowling Qais Ahmad 9 12 3/24 Andre Russell 8 8 3/18 Dushmantha Chameera 8 8 2/27 Angelo Mathews 9 5 1/9 Ashan Priyanjan 9 5 2/4
Awards and achievements Date Award Player Opponent Result Contribution Ref. 26 NovemberMan of the Match Dinesh Chandimal Kandy Tuskers Won by 5 runs (Super over). 80 28 November Andre Russell Galle Gladiators Won by 34 runs. 65* 4 December Dinesh Chandimal Jaffna Stallions Won by 6 wickets. 68* 5 December Dushmantha Chameera Kandy Tuskers Won by 7 wickets. 1/17 10 December Laurie Evans Jaffna Stallions Won by 6 runs. 108* 11 December Qais Ahmad Dambulla Viiking Won by 6 wickets. 53*
References