Thisara Perera led-Jaffna Stallions recorded a thrilling win against Dambulla Viiking in the 5th match of Lanka Premier League 2020.
Early blow for Jaffna!
The Stallions’ top four batsmen looked ordinary in this game. The team was in deep trouble as they lost a wicket in each of the first 4 overs. Poor shot selection and having no control over their the nerves were the reasons for their downfall.
Dangerous Avishka Fernando, who played a very matured innings in his last outing, started proceedings with a cracking boundary over covers off the first ball of the match, only to walk back to the hut by nicking one to the keeper a ball later, as Lahiru Kumara bounced back with fierce pace.
Sadeera Samarawickrama joins Dambulla Viiking
Ramesh Mendis joined the party in the very next over as the off-spinner cramped up Tom Moores for room with a straightening delivery from just out of off stump to find his outside edge.
Minod Bhanuka hit a short ball straight to deep square-leg in the third over, and Dhananjaya de Silva was castled by Samit Patel in the fourth.
The recovery ft. Thisara Perera
Following the dodgy start, Chathuranga de Silva and Shoaib Malik provided a brief fix for the crisis. Chathuranga’s knock of 29 runs was key in stabilizing the innings and giving Thisara Perera enough breathing space till he got his bearings right.
From there onwards, it was all about the West Indian-like Sri Lankan who struck a flamboyant 95 runs off just 44 balls. He struck 7 clean hits which sailed over the ropes, along with 8 boundaries. This is also the highest score by a batsman at No. 7 in T20s. Ahead of him is superstar, Andre Russell. Coming in at 64 for 5 in the 9th over, Thisara saw his team post 218 runs at the end of 20 overs.
Russell muscles Colombo to win in 5-over contest
Wanindu Hasaranga played a 10-ball cameo adding 24 vital runs for the total.
The U-turn
Things seemed achievable for Dambulla Viiking, until the Skipper decided to bring Lahiru Madushanka into the attack for the first time in the 16th over. Not only did Madushanka go for 21 runs in that over, but he also gave away all the momentum the Viiking had. Thisara had only hit 1 six prior to that over. He got 2 sixes and a four in that over and massacred Lahiru Kumara with a 30-run over, 7 balls later in his tally.
Faulty top-order for Dambulla
Dambulla did not get the kind of start required to chase down such a big target. Niroshan Dickwella, Paul Stirling and Upul Tharanga – all seasoned international stars – fell for small scores. That put a lot of pressure on Samit Patel, who scored a valiant 41 off 22 balls. However, that was not even close to being enough to take them past the target.
Bowling brilliance of Jaffna Stallions
The Stallions gave no chances with the ball and the skipper rationed his bowlers quite seamlessly. Usman Shinwari stood out among them all, picking up 3 wickets for just 16 runs. Most importantly, Shinwari bowled 17 dots out of his 24 deliveries. Binura Fernando and Thisara Perera contributed with 2 wickets each, while Wanindu Hasaranga was the catalyst in restricting the run flow and building pressure.
With this win, Jaffna Stallions will remain safe and sound at the top of the table.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avishka Fernando | c Niroshan Dickwella b Lahiru Kumara | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 133.33 |
| Minod Bhanuka | c Paul Stirling b Anwar Ali | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 85.71 |
| Tom Moores | c Niroshan Dickwella b Ramesh Mendis | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 166.67 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | b Samit Patel | 16 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 133.33 |
| Shoaib Malik | c Niroshan Dickwella b Samit Patel | 23 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 176.92 |
| Chathuranga de Sliva | run out (Upul Tharanga) | 29 | 24 | 0 | 2 | 120.83 |
| Thisara Perera | not out | 97 | 44 | 8 | 7 | 220.45 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | c Niroshan Dickwella b Aftab Alam | 24 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 240.00 |
| Binura Fernando | not out | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 200.00 |
| Extras | 6 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 5, pen 0) |
| Total | 218/7 (20 Overs, RR: 10.9) |
| Did not bat | Duanne Olivier, Usman Shinwari, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lahiru Kumara | 4 | 0 | 63 | 1 | 15.75 | |
| Ramesh Mendis | 4 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 6.25 | |
| Anwar Ali | 4 | 0 | 46 | 1 | 11.50 | |
| Samit Patel | 3 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 8.67 | |
| Aftab Alam | 3 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 7.33 | |
| Dasun Shanaka | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14.00 | |
| Lahiru Madushanka | 1 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 21.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niroshan Dickwella | c Shoaib Malik b Usman Shinwari | 20 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 181.82 |
| Paul Stirling | c Tom Moores b Binura Fernando | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 22.22 |
| Upul Tharanga | c Minod Bhanuka b Thisara Perera | 15 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 78.95 |
| Samit Patel | b Wanindu Hasaranga | 41 | 22 | 1 | 4 | 186.36 |
| Dasun Shanaka | c Chathuranga de Sliva b Binura Fernando | 35 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 166.67 |
| Anwar Ali | c Chathuranga de Sliva b Usman Shinwari | 21 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 161.54 |
| Lahiru Madushanka | c Usman Shinwari b Thisara Perera | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Ramesh Mendis | c Tom Moores b Duanne Olivier | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 125.00 |
| Aftab Alam | not out | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16.67 |
| Malinda Pushpakumara | c Tom Moores b Usman Shinwari | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Lahiru Kumara | run out () | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 7 (b 0 , lb 6 , nb 0, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 152/10 (19.1 Overs, RR: 7.93) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usman Shinwari | 4 | 0 | 16 | 3 | 4.00 | |
| Binura Fernando | 4 | 0 | 41 | 2 | 10.25 | |
| Duanne Olivier | 4 | 0 | 42 | 1 | 10.50 | |
| Thisara Perera | 3 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 7.67 | |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 4 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 6.00 | |
| Chathuranga de Sliva | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |
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