CricketMaheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga picked up 3 wickets apiece to restrict the Dambulla Giants to 110, which the Jaffna Kings chased down with more than 7 overs to spare in Match 4 of the Lanka Premier League.
The pair of Sri Lankan spinners bookended the Dambulla innings, Theekshana making the crucial early breakthroughs and Hasaranga coming back at the death to finish things off.
The Giants got their tournament off to a great start yesterday, making 190 against the Kandy Warriors, but they found today’s opposition bowling attack far more challenging.
Suranga Lakmal was the one to get things started for the Kings, picking up Niroshan Dickwella in his 1st over and then Lahiru Udara in his next. He could have had the danger man Phil Salt as well, but a miscommunication in the field between Jayden Seales and Tom Kohler-Cadmore saw a skier dropping between the two.
Theekshana eventually accounted for Salt eventually, then bowled a double-wicket maiden, where he sent Dasun Shanaka and Najibullah Zadran back to the pavilion to swing the well and truly in the defending champs’ direction.
All 5 bowlers used by the Kings’ skipper Thisara Perera found success, with even Chathuranga de Silva, though wicketless, flying through his 4 overs for just 17 runs.
In the chase, a lot depended on how Imran Tahir fared and once the Kings decided to see him off, there was no real threat from the Giants.
Tahir picked up Rahmanullah Gurbaz early, but Avishka Fernando, opening the batting today, tanked 27 off 17 and led the Kings to 49/1 in the power play. From that point Tom Kohler-Cadmore took the reins and smashed the Dambulla bowlers to all parts.
Shoaib Malik came in at the fall of Fernando and ended things in style with 3 sixes and a 21-run Nuwan Pradeep over.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Salt | c Wanindu Hasaranga b Mahesh Theekshana | 13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 108.33 |
| Niroshan Dickwella | c Wanindu Hasaranga b Suranga Lakmal | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 120.00 |
| Lahiru Udara | c Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Suranga Lakmal | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 42.86 |
| Nuwanidu Fernando | c Avishka Fernando b Jayden Seales | 23 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 92.00 |
| Dasun Shanaka | c & b Mahesh Theekshana | 13 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 76.47 |
| Najibullah Zadran | lbw b Mahesh Theekshana | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Chamika Karunaratne | c Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Wanindu Hasaranga | 18 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 75.00 |
| Ramesh Mendis | c Wanindu Hasaranga b Suranga Lakmal | 14 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 116.67 |
| Marchant De Lange | b Wanindu Hasaranga | 13 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 162.50 |
| Nuwan Pradeep | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Imran Tahir | b Jayden Seales | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 6 (b 0 , lb 4 , nb 0, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 110/10 (19.3 Overs, RR: 5.64) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-14 (1.4) Niroshan Dickwella, 2-26 (3.5) Lahiru Udara, 3-26 (4.1) Phil Salt, 4-58 (9.3) Dasun Shanaka, 5-58 (9.6) Najibullah Zadran, 6-71 (13.1) Nuwanidu Fernando, 7-84 (16.1) Chamika Karunaratne, 8-109 (18.4) Ramesh Mendis, 9-109 (18.5) Marchant De Lange, 10-110 (19.3) Imran Tahir, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mahesh Theekshana | 4 | 1 | 22 | 3 | 5.50 | |
| Suranga Lakmal | 4 | 0 | 28 | 2 | 7.00 | |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 4 | 0 | 16 | 3 | 4.00 | |
| Jayden Seales | 3.3 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 6.97 | |
| Chathuranga de Sliva | 4 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 4.25 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | c Nuwan Pradeep b Imran Tahir | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 37.50 |
| Avishka Fernando | c & b Nuwan Pradeep | 33 | 27 | 1 | 3 | 122.22 |
| Tom Kohler-Cadmore | not out | 45 | 30 | 5 | 2 | 150.00 |
| Shoaib Malik | not out | 26 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 260.00 |
| Extras | 7 (b 4 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 114/2 (12.3 Overs, RR: 9.12) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-13 (2.6) Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 2-76 (9.5) Avishka Fernando, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imran Tahir | 4 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 5.00 | |
| Marchant De Lange | 2.3 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 9.13 | |
| Nuwan Pradeep | 3 | 0 | 39 | 1 | 13.00 | |
| Ramesh Mendis | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 12.00 | |
