In the 10th game of LPL Edition 3, the 2nd placed Jaffna Kings took on the 4th placed Colombo Stars. The match went right down the wire as Kings held onto their nerves to register a 6 run win after Stars Skipper Angelo Mathews returned to his vintage batting spot and almost took his team over the line.
Colombo Stars Captain Angelo Mathews, who won the toss, decided to field first with the hope of restricting Jaffna Kings to a chaseable target. Rahmanullah Gurbaz nearly got the Kings off to another explosive start, but Benny Howell dismissed him for 17. Then Ashan Randika, who finally got the chance to bat, scored a quick-fire 27 off 14 to keep the Kings run rate in check.
Avishka Fernando, who played more of an anchor role, made 32 from 31 to keep the singles ticking, while Sadeera Samarawickrama, who is in fine form, made another solid 32. However, it was the highly experienced duo of Shoaib Malik and Thisara Perera who provided them with a fantastic finish, constructing a partnership of 36 from 16 balls.
Malik was unbeaten on 35 from 26 balls, while Skipper Perera registered a fine cameo of 29 from 13 as the Kings ended up with a total of 178 for the loss of 5 wickets in their 20 overs.
The Stars, chasing a target of 179, made a mess of their chase as they lost 7 wickets with the score just on 67 after 12.2 overs. Stars Captain Mathews, who opened the batting in the first 3 games, was not having a good time with the bat so demoted himself to number 6, the spot he batted at the start of his career. With his return to the old position in the batting order, he straightaway found form with some magnificent hitting.
- WATCH – අත්දැකීම් + පරිණත තරු මිශ්රණයක් සහිත – Colombo Stars – Squad Preview | LPL 2022
- WATCH – අනුශූරතාවයෙන් ශූරතාවයට යාමට සැරසෙන Galle Gladiators – Squad Preview | LPL 2022
- WATCH – ශූරතාවය රැකගන්නට වෙරදරන Jaffna Kings – Squad Preview | LPL 2022
- WATCH – පෙරළියක් කිරීමට සැරසෙන Dambulla Aura – Squad Preview | LPL 2022
- WATCH – අළු ගසා නැවත නැගිටින – Kandy Falcons – Squad Preview | LPL 2022
Benny Howell also contributed with the bat to aid Skipper Mathews, as the pair kept hitting boundaries at will to take the game deep. Their partnership before the start of the last over was 90 from 40, as the Stars required 22 runs in the final over.
Howell got out in the first delivery of the 20th over, making the task look impossible. However Captain Mathews, who got the strike requiring 21 from 4 deliveries, hammered back to back sixes – one down the ground off a short delivery, and the other over deep mid wicket. The 2 sixes were followed up by a double, and the Stars needed 7 off 1. Mathews tried to connect the last ball for a six with the hopes of taking the game to a super over, but was unfortunately unable to as he could only hit the slower length delivery around off on the bounce to deep midwicket as the Kings won the game by 6 runs.
Mathews, who nearly took his team over the line for a second win, was unbeaten on 73 off 38 balls which included 8 fours and 3 sixes, while Howell, who helped him to take the game to the last over, made 43 from 20 with 5 fours and 2 sixes.
In bowling for Jaffna Kings, James Fuller, who bowled the all important final over, took 2 for 32, which also earned him the Player of the Match award. The young leg-spinner Vijaykanth Viyaskanth impressed once again, taking 2 scalps for 32 runs.
With this win, the Jaffna Kings have won 4 games out of 5 and move to number 1 in the points table, while the Colombo Stars have only 1 win in 4 games keep;ing them in the 4th position.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | c Niroshan Dickwella b Benny Howell | 17 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 154.55 |
| Avishka Fernando | c Naveen Ul Haq b Benny Howell | 32 | 31 | 4 | 0 | 103.23 |
| Ashan Randika | c Charith Asalanka b Naveen Ul Haq | 27 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 192.86 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | b Dominic Drakes | 32 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 128.00 |
| Shoaib Malik | not out | 35 | 26 | 5 | 0 | 134.62 |
| Thisara Perera | not out | 29 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 223.08 |
| Extras | 6 (b 1 , lb 3 , nb 0, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 178/4 (20 Overs, RR: 8.9) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasun Rajitha | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 9.50 | |
| Nawod Paranavithana | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 6.50 | |
| Seekkuge Prasanna | 4 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 6.00 | |
| Benny Howell | 4 | 0 | 37 | 2 | 9.25 | |
| Naveen Ul Haq | 4 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 7.00 | |
| Dominic Drakes | 4 | 0 | 53 | 1 | 13.25 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niroshan Dickwella | b Thisara Perera | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Daniel Bell Drummond | c Ashan Randika b Mahesh Theekshana | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Nawod Paranavithana | b James Fuller | 8 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 88.89 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | b Asitha Fernando | 19 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 105.56 |
| Charith Asalanka | lbw b Vijayakanth Viyaskanth | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 37.50 |
| Angelo Mathews | not out | 73 | 38 | 8 | 3 | 192.11 |
| Seekkuge Prasanna | c Avishka Fernando b Vijayakanth Viyaskanth | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Dominic Drakes | run out (Thisara Perera) | 14 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 175.00 |
| Benny Howell | c Shoaib Malik b | 43 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 215.00 |
| Kasun Rajitha | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 6 (b 0 , lb 3 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 172/8 (20 Overs, RR: 8.6) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thisara Perera | 3 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 10.33 | |
| Mahesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 8.00 | |
| James Fuller | 4 | 0 | 32 | 2 | 8.00 | |
| Asitha Fernando | 4 | 1 | 31 | 1 | 7.75 | |
| Vijayakanth Viyaskanth | 4 | 0 | 32 | 2 | 8.00 | |
| Dunith wellalage | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 11.00 | |
