Richard Ngarava stars in his LPL debut

ZIMBABWE international cricketer, Richard Ngarava put up a brilliant performance on his debut appearance at the 2023 Lanka Premier League (LPL) to help his Galle Titans side register a 83 runs victory over B-Love Kandy In Colombo, Sri Lanka on Tuesday evening.

The Chevrons’ left-handed fast bowler announced himself in style with the ball as he took two wickets in three overs to help his side bowl out their opponents for just 97 runs while chasing a target of 181 runs.

In his three overs, Ngarava only conceded 15 runs and had the third best figures after Kasun Rajitha (2/8) and Shakib Al Hassan (2/10). This was the 25-year-old Ngarava’s maiden appearance in an international franchise league.

His move to Sri Lanka came after he also took part in the inaugural Zim Cyber City Zim Afro T10 league which took place in Harare and ended on Saturday.

In the match between Galle Titans and B-Love Kandy, Ngarava’s Titans won the toss and elected to bat first and they went on to finish on 180/5 in 20-overs before going on to wipe out their opponents in 17,1 overs for 97 runs.

Tim Seifert, who was named player of the match carried his form from the Zim Afro T10 league as he top scored for Titans with a brilliant 74 runs off 39 balls. Al Hassan was run out on 30 runs from 21 balls while Shevon Daniel fell for 25 runs after facing 31 deliveries. Ngarava, who was meant to come in at number 11 did not bat.

Aamer Jamal, Mohammad Hasnain and Wanindu Hasaranga all took one wicket each for B-Love Kandy.

In their defence, Ngarava took the wickets of Angelo Mathews, whom he bowled for two runs off six balls and that of the skipper, Hasaranga who was

caught by Tabraiz Shamsi on nine runs off seven deliveries. Only two fours were scored off the Chevrons star during his spell.

Apart from Ngarava, Al Hassan and Rajitha, Shamsi also took two wickets and conceded 20 runs in his four over spell to guide their side to a comfortable victory. The other two wickets that fell were taken by Lahiru Samarakoon and Akila Dananjaya.

Only three of the B-Love Kandy batters managed to cross double figures with their top scorer being Ashen Bandara with 27 runs off 19 balls while Isuru Udana made 16 runs from 12 balls. The other batter to cross double figures was Thanuka Dabare with 12 runs from 11 deliveries.

Tuesday’s victory saw Ngarava’s Titans move to four points after two consecutive wins and their next encounter will be against Jaffna Kings, who have two points from their opening matches after winning one and losing one.

Ngarava is the only Zimbabwean international player taking part in this year’s edition of the league. – @brandon_malvin