The eighth encounter of LPL 2023 took place between Jaffna Kings and Dambulla Aura where Kings broke the record for the highest ever total in LPL history to beat Aura by 51 runs. With this win Kings now have 3 wins in 4 games with the only loss coming against the unbeaten Kandy Falcons while Aura are yet to register a single win after 3 games.
Dasun Shanaka the Dambulla Aura skipper won the toss and invited Jaffna Kings to bat first. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Avishka Fernando opened the batting for Kings and punished the Aura bowlers all around the park. Gurbaz who was short of runs finally found form today with Fernando continuing his good return.
The pair added 73 runs in the powerplay and Gurbaz scored his 50 off 20 deliveries. Fernando also brought up his fifty in 27 balls as their partnership crossed the 100 run mark in 8.2 overs. Gurbaz was finally dismissed for 73 off 35 deliveries which included 7 fours and 5 sixes. The pair added 133 runs in 64 balls. Fernando also got out in the very next over for 54 from 30 balls.
Then Sadeera Samarawickrama with 38 from 22 and Shoaib Malik with 32 from 15 provided a solid finish for the Kings to take them past the highest total ever in LPL history to register 240 in the allotted 20 overs. All the bowlers for Aura went over 8 runs per over and only Lahiru Kumara managed to pick 2 wickets but still went for 56 runs in his 4 overs.
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Chasing a record breaking target of 241, Aura were never really in the hunt although the teenager Shevon Daniel provided them with a quickfire start making 29 from 20. Skipper Shanaka tried his best to revive the Aura innings with a quickfire 44 off 23 balls but rest of the batters failed to make an impression. Bhanuka Rajapakse who was no way near his usual best made a wayward 38 from 31 balls in the chase.
Ravindu Fernando’s cameo at the end managed to take them through the 20 overs but could only manage 189 runs after losing 8 wickets. Binura Fernando who already has a 3 wicket haul in an earlier game bowled another superb spell taking 4 wickets for 22 runs. Suminda Lakshan played his first game of the season and picked 2 wickets but went for 50 runs.
The next game for Jaffna Kings will be against Colombo Stars while the winless Dambulla Aura will face the unbeaten Kandy Falcons searching for their first win of the tournament.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | c Jordan Cox b Lahiru Kumara | 73 | 35 | 7 | 5 | 208.57 |
| Avishka Fernando | b Dushan Hemantha | 54 | 30 | 6 | 2 | 180.00 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Shevon Daniel b Lahiru Kumara | 19 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 158.33 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | not out | 38 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 172.73 |
| Shoaib Malik | c Dasun Shanaka b Pramod Madushan | 32 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 213.33 |
| Thisara Perera | not out | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 200.00 |
| Extras | 12 (b 0 , lb 3 , nb 0, w 9, pen 0) |
| Total | 240/4 (20 Overs, RR: 12) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tharindu Rathnayake | 3 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 11.33 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 4 | 0 | 56 | 2 | 14.00 | |
| Pramod Madushan | 4 | 0 | 55 | 1 | 13.75 | |
| Sikandar Raza | 4 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 8.75 | |
| Dushan Hemantha | 4 | 0 | 44 | 1 | 11.00 | |
| Dasun Shanaka | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shevon Daniel | c Avishka Fernando b Binura Fernando | 29 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 145.00 |
| Jordan Cox | c Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Binura Fernando | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 83.33 |
| Bhanuka Rajapaksha | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Dilshan Madushanka | 38 | 31 | 5 | 0 | 122.58 |
| Tom Abell | b Dhananjaya de Silva | 12 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 120.00 |
| Dasun Shanaka | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Suminda Lakshan | 44 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 191.30 |
| Sikandar Raza | c Shoaib Malik b Suminda Lakshan | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 133.33 |
| Ravindu Fernando | not out | 19 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 146.15 |
| Dushan Hemantha | c Shoaib Malik b Binura Fernando | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Tharindu Rathnayake | c Suminda Lakshan b Binura Fernando | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Pramod Madushan | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 24 (b 0 , lb 3 , nb 0, w 21, pen 0) |
| Total | 189/8 (20 Overs, RR: 9.45) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dilshan Madushanka | 4 | 0 | 43 | 1 | 10.75 | |
| Mahesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 7.75 | |
| Binura Fernando | 4 | 1 | 22 | 4 | 5.50 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 4 | 0 | 40 | 1 | 10.00 | |
| Suminda Lakshan | 4 | 0 | 50 | 2 | 12.50 | |
