A run chase that seemed all but lost needed a livewire character to revive Colombo Stars in Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2023. Skipper Angelo Matthews was just looking for someone who could stay with him to stay till the end and then take their chances or even get remotely close to the target. In the run chase of 179, Stars were reduced to 67/7 in the 13th over and then Benny Howell walked out.
Mathews realised that there is no point in saving his wicket and he started taking on bowlers hitting them for boundaries. The all-rounder got the much-needed support from Howell as he smashed Vijayakanth Viyaskanth for four boundaries in the 15th over. The onslaught continued and the duo took on Jaffna Kings' skipper Thisara Perera to get 20 more runs. Boundaries flowed and Mathews got to his half-century from 30 deliveries giving Stars' fans some hope.
In the penultimate over, Howell hit a six off Asitha Fernando to keep the game alive. When Howell had walked out to bat, Stars needed 112 runs from 46 deliveries. In the last over, they needed 22 more runs to get over the line making the other batters wonder if they had contributed more to the score to make the situation better for the gutsy duo in the middle.
English bowler James Fuller had the ball in the final over. Howell was set for a big shot but was beaten by the change of pace as the ball ballooned up in the night sky. The ball was far away from travelling the distance and landed in Shoaib Malik’s palms. The experienced English all-rounder had kept the game alive till the last over but the margin of error was too thin towards the end.
Irrespective of the result of the game, he had turned a one-sided contest into an exciting encounter. Batting at no.9 he scored 43 runs from 20 deliveries at a strike rate of 215. He smashed five fours and two sixes in the 90-run partnership for the eighth wicket.
The result of the game did not go Stars' way as Mathews could not finish it off alone and remained unbeaten for 73 off 38 deliveries including eight fours and three sixes. The Stars lost the match by six runs but managed to get some positive out of it.
Howell made a statement ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 auction. He was picked by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for his base price of Rs 40 lakh but was not given a single chance in the season as the team management preferred to have Caribbean Odean Smith in the lineup. Later, he was also released by the franchise without testing him out. It will be interesting to see if they go after the Englishman again.
