In the first encounter of the final day in the first round of LPL Season 3, defending champions Jaffna Kings faced Colombo Stars in what turned out to be a one sided fixture. Chasing a below par target of 129, Kings reached home after losing just 2 wickets to cement 2nd place and guarantee a spot in the 1st Qualifier against Kandy Falcons.
Kings skipper Thisara Perera who won the toss elected to field first. Niroshan Dickwella and Dinesh Chandimal who came out to open the innings, went back to the pavilion without troubling the scorers as Stars were reeling at 5 for 2. They lost 2 more wickets inside the powerplay as the scoreline of the Stars read 25/4 at the end of 6 overs.
After the fall of the 4 early wickets, Nishan Madushka and Ravi Bopara managed to stabilise the innings for a bit until Bopara departed for 20 with the score on 53. Nishan Madushka also got out after making 35 as Stars lost 7 wickets before reaching the triple figure mark.
But thanks to Dominic Drakes who made a counter attacking 38 from 20 with 4 fours and 2 sixes, Stars somehow managed to push their way to make 128 in the allotted 20 overs. The veterans of the Kings lineup Perera and Shoaib Malik who struck early in the day took 2 wickets each to restrict the opposition while Zaman Khan also bowled an economic spell conceding just 22 in 4 overs after taking 1 wicket.
Chasing 129, the highly successful Kings opening pair Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Avishka Fernando once again combined to put together 105 runs with Gurbaz doing bulk of the scoring with 69 runs off 40 balls which included 8 fours and 4 sixes. After the opening stand it was a cakewalk for the Kings batters as they cruised their way home with 8 wickets and 25 deliveries remaining.
Fernando who successfully anchored the innings continuing his fine form made an unbeaten 40 off 38 balls. In bowling there was nothing that special on display for the Stars as only Jeffrey Vandersay and Drakes managed to clinch a wicket apiece.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dinesh Chandimal | b Thisara Perera | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Niroshan Dickwella | b Shoaib Malik | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Charith Asalanka | c Afif Hossain b Thisara Perera | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Nishan Madushka | c Thisara Perera b Zaman Khan | 35 | 44 | 0 | 1 | 79.55 |
| Dhananjaya Lakshan | c Afif Hossain b Shoaib Malik | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Ravi Bopara | lbw b Praveen Jayawickrama | 20 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 105.26 |
| Mohammad Nabi | run out (Praveen Jayawickrama) | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Dominic Drakes | c Dunith wellalage b Suminda Lakshan | 38 | 20 | 4 | 2 | 190.00 |
| Benny Howell | not out | 11 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 122.22 |
| Jeffrey Vandersay | c Shoaib Malik b Asitha Fernando | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 80.00 |
| Kasun Rajitha | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 12 (b 4 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 7, pen 0) |
| Total | 128/9 (20 Overs, RR: 6.4) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thisara Perera | 3 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 4.67 | |
| Shoaib Malik | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2.00 | |
| Zaman Khan | 4 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 5.50 | |
| Asitha Fernando | 4 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 7.75 | |
| Praveen Jayawickrama | 3 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 7.67 | |
| Suminda Lakshan | 4 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 7.25 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | lbw b Jeffrey Vandersay | 69 | 40 | 8 | 4 | 172.50 |
| Avishka Fernando | not out | 40 | 38 | 3 | 0 | 105.26 |
| Shoaib Malik | c Kasun Rajitha b Dominic Drakes | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 57.14 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | not out | 9 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 90.00 |
| Extras | 9 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 8, pen 0) |
| Total | 131/2 (15.5 Overs, RR: 8.27) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasun Rajitha | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Dhananjaya Lakshan | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Dominic Drakes | 2.5 | 0 | 30 | 1 | 12.00 | |
| Mohammad Nabi | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4.00 | |
| Jeffrey Vandersay | 4 | 0 | 33 | 1 | 8.25 | |
| Benny Howell | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 8.00 | |
| Ravi Bopara | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 8.00 | |
