The first qualifier clash of the Lanka Premier League Season 03 took place between the group toppers after the league Kandy Falcons and 2nd placed Jaffna Kings. Former two-time champs Jaffna Kings who lost both their first-round games against Kandy Falcons made a strong comeback here to get a win back in a rain-hit game to book their spot in the finals of LPL for the 3rd consecutive time.
Falcons skipper Wanindu Hasaranga who won the toss decided to bat first hoping to set up a challenging target. One of the most successful opening pairs of this edition Pathum Nissanka and Andre Fletcher came out to open the batting for the Falcons and the two new ball bowlers for the Kings, Binura Fernando and skipper Thisara Perera were up to the task they managed to put the pair under a lot of pressure from the word go. As a result of their tight bowling, Fletcher fell for just 2 runs.
>> Photos – Kandy Falcon v Jaffna Kings | Qualifier 1 | LPL 2022
After that Nissanka and Kamindu Mendis combined to make 61 runs for the 2nd wicket to stabilise the scoring rate for the Falcons. But the young leg spinner of the Kings, Vijaykanth Viyaskanth who impressed everyone throughout the season provided the comeback they were looking for with a double wicket over to remove both the set batters Nissanka and Mendis.
Then Najibullah Zadran and Ashen Bandara had to rebuild the innings once again and they did manage to lay a good partnership to set up a strong finish. But just like the last partnership duo, Bandara and Zadran both got out in the space of 5 deliveries to push the Falcons back once again.
With the score on 110/5 in 15 overs, the Falcons were all set to push for a score well over 150 with a lot of firepower being available in the backend of their innings. But none of their finishers were able to get going as they could only make 33 runs in the final losing 3 wickets and finishing up with 143 for 8 in their 20 overs.
Viyaskanth was the pick of the bowlers for Kings taking 3 wickets for 30 in his 4 overs. His 3 scalps were Nissanka, Mendis and Bandara, all 3 batters who were well set in the middle. Maheesh Theekshana bowled economically taking 2 wickets for 24 runs and provided quality support to the youngster.
Chasing 144, the Kings were in a hurry to get over the line as quickly as possible. They crossed the 50-run mark in just 3.2 overs and were 3 for 71 at the end of the powerplay. After the loss of the top 3 for the Kings there was a slight drizzle which delayed the game by a bit. After the break Sadeera Samarawickrama and Dunith Wellalage who were promoted up the order, batted sensibly as they had more than enough time to get the job done without taking any risks thanks to the fireworks by their top order.
With the scoreline on 98 for 3 for the Kings, a second delay occurred due to rain which was much heavier this time and further play was not possible giving the Kings a 24-run victory via the DLS method. This loss means that the Falcons will have to play the winner of the Eliminator face-off between Galle Gladiators and Colombo Stars in the 2nd qualifier to have another go at qualifying for the finals.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | b Vijayakanth Viyaskanth | 35 | 31 | 5 | 0 | 112.90 |
| Andre Fletcher | c Vijayakanth Viyaskanth b Thisara Perera | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Kamindu Mendis | c Thisara Perera b Vijayakanth Viyaskanth | 26 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 123.81 |
| Ashen Bandara | b Vijayakanth Viyaskanth | 13 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Najibullah Zadran | st Sadeera Samarawickrama b Mahesh Theekshana | 22 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 129.41 |
| Wanidu Hasaranga | c Shoaib Malik b Zaman Khan | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 75.00 |
| Fabian Allen | c Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Mahesh Theekshana | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 150.00 |
| Carlos Brathwaite | c Thisara Perera b Binura Fernando | 12 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 120.00 |
| Chamika Karunaratne | not out | 14 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 107.69 |
| Isuru Udana | not out | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 200.00 |
| Extras | 8 (b 0 , lb 4 , nb 0, w 4, pen 0) |
| Total | 143/8 (20 Overs, RR: 7.15) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thisara Perera | 2 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 8.50 | |
| Binura Fernando | 4 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 5.75 | |
| Zaman Khan | 4 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 7.75 | |
| Mahesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 24 | 2 | 6.00 | |
| Vijayakanth Viyaskanth | 4 | 0 | 30 | 3 | 7.50 | |
| Shoaib Malik | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | c Isuru Udana b Carlos Brathwaite | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 125.00 |
| Avishka Fernando | c Kamindu Mendis b Carlos Brathwaite | 21 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 190.91 |
| Afif Hossain | c & b Chamika Karunaratne | 14 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 155.56 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | not out | 15 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Dunith wellalage | not out | 19 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 82.61 |
| Extras | 19 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 19, pen 0) |
| Total | 98/3 (11 Overs, RR: 8.91) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isuru Udana | 2 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 15.50 | |
| Carlos Brathwaite | 3 | 0 | 32 | 2 | 10.67 | |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 2.4 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 6.25 | |
| Wanidu Hasaranga | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4.00 | |
| Fabian Allen | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8.00 | |
| Chamindu Wijesinghe | 0.2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 20.00 | |
