Qais Ahmad leads rout of Kandy Tuskers as Colombo Kings enter semi-finals

This was the least competitive match of the tournament so far. After the early overs, the Kandy Tuskers never seemed capable of producing a serious challenge to the Colombo Kings. The Kings chased down a target of 106 with 35 balls and seven wickets to spare.

The Tuskers' strongest period in the game was their batting Powerplay. Their top-scorers of the tournament - Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis - were out cheaply, but Rahmanullah Gurbaz struck 34 off 21 to help his side to a run rate of 9 by the end of the Powerplay. Then the middle order went to pieces. Brendan Taylor was trapped lbw by Angelo Mathews for 3 in the sixth over. Asela Gunaratne was also lbw, to Qais Ahmad, less than three overs after that. Only one boundary was struck between overs six and ten.

The Tuskers, who don't have the deepest batting order, kept losing wickets through the middle overs, and limped into over 17 at 94 for 6. The last four wickets went down in a heap. From the halfway point of the innings, only four fours were struck. Outside of Gurbaz' innings, the Tuskers managed only eight fours in total.

The chase was the cakewalk it was always going to be. Laurie Evans was out in the third over, and Daniel Bell-Drummond and Angelo Mathews didn't last long either, but Dinesh Chandimal was playing a slow-burn innings, and was eventually joined by Ashan Priyanjan, with whom he struck up an unbroken 56-run partnership. Neither batsman scored at more than a run-a-ball. But then with such a small target to chase, why would they bother?

The Kings attack is hitting form at the business end of the tournament. A day after he had been good against Jaffna Stallions, Dushmantha Chameera gave away just 17 runs from his four overs, and took the vital wicket of Kusal Perera.

Andre Russell and Angelo Mathews were also good, but the best of Kings' bowlers was Qais, whose four overs cost a stunning eight runs. He also took out Gunaratne and Dilruwan Perera to finish with two wickets.

The Kings become the third team to qualify for the semi-finals, after the Jaffna Stallions and Dambulla Viiking. The Tuskers are still in a scrap for that fourth semi-final position with the Galle Gladiators. The Tuskers have the advantage since they won their first match against the Gladiators, who are yet to get themselves their first win.

A little over halfway through the league, though, there's not a lot on the line in the remaining matches. The tournament organisers would have been much better off ditching the semi-finals format, and letting only the top three teams qualify for the knockouts. Teams ranked No. 2 and No. 3 could play an eliminator to play the side ranked No. 1 in the final. Maybe next year.