Köln Kings played their first double header of the season on the 18th of July, facing their old adversary Köln Challengers for the first game. The Challengers won the toss and decided to bat first, knowing they would have to bat extremely well to counter the Kings’ potent bowling attack. Veteran pace bowler Appu continued his fine form, getting rid of the opener Sriram with a lovely ball that swung away late. Prateek bowled some vicious out-swingers at the other end, making it very difficult for the batsmen to even connect bat on ball. Appu was replaced by left-arm spinner Sandheep, who bowled good areas and kept the pressure on the batsmen.
Prateek picked up two quick wickets in his final over, leaving the Challengers in all sorts of trouble. Sandheep and Grinesh ran through the rest of the batsmen, picking up three and two wickets respectively, ending the Challengers’ innings at a measly 54 runs. The highlight of the innings was the discipline of the Kings’ bowling attack and the excellent work behind the stumps of Lokesh, who was involved in five dismissals. The Kings made short work of the chase, reaching the target in 6.5 overs for the loss of only one wicket. It was a clinical performance from the Kings as expected.
Köln Kings Squad : Irfan Ahmed, Satya Srinivas(Wk), Dhruv Patel(C), Grinesh Sanghavi, Appu Muraleedharan, Tejas Harish, Sandheep Pulya Ravishankar, Rameez Deshmukh, Satheeshkumar Rathinasamy, Ameya Deshpande, Lokesh Kamti(Wk), Santosh Kumar, Prateek Dabholkar
Man of the Match : Sandheep Pulya Ravishankar