Galle Gladiators beat Jaffna Kings by 64 runs in qualifier 1 of Lanka Premier League held today at Sooriyawewa International Cricket Stadium.
Having won the toss, Jaffna Kings skipper Thisara Perera chose to bat first, making two changes to their playing XI bringing in spin duo Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana to the side replacing Praveen Jayawickrama and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth.
On the other hand, Gladiators also made two changes brining in Anwar Ali and Nuwan Thushara to the team for Noor Ahmad and Pramod Madushan.
Clinical Colombo Stars qualify for Play-Offs
Galle Gladiators (Playing XI): Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis(w), Mohammad Hafeez, Bhanuka Rajapaksa(c), Samit Patel, Sahan Arachchige, Isuru Udana, Anwar Ali, Pulina Tharanga, Mohammad Amir, Nuwan Thushara
Jaffna Kings (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Avishka Fernando, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Shoaib Malik, Thisara Perera(c), Ashen Bandara, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chaturanga de Silva, Wahab Riaz, Suranga Lakmal, Maheesh Theekshana
Opening the batting, Gunathilaka and Mendis got Gladiators off to a flying start putting on a record-breaking partnership of 121 runs off 80 balls which is the highest partnership for any wicket in this year’s LPL.
After the dismissal of Gunathilaka who made 55 runs off 42 balls with 6 fours and 1 six, Mendis continued the onslaught as Gladiators posted their highest score of the tournament putting on 188 for 5 in the allotted 20 overs.
Mendis played a blinder of an innings scoring his career best score in T20s, 85 runs off 53 balls with 7 fours and 4 sixes. The seamers Wahab Riaz and Thisara Perera stood out with the ball for Kings snaring 2 wickets each.
Galle Gladiators secure spot in top two
Chasing a massive target of 189 to win, Kings lost two big scalps in Avishka Fernando and Kohler-Cadmore early in the innings putting them under pressure.
However, the opening batter Gurbaz steadied the innings scoring 59 runs off 37 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes giving some hope for Kings in the tough run-chase. But Jaffna continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and the flurry of wickets mounted the pressure on them in the middle.
Jaffna’s hopes pinned on Hasaranga who played a cameo at the end of innings but the asking rate was too much even for him as Gladiators pulled off a 64-run win to qualify for the final of the tournament for the second time in a row.
The speedster Nuwan Thushara was on fire with the ball for Gladiators he grabbed 5 wickets for just 13 runs becoming the second bowler to take a 5-wicket haul in this LPL season.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kusal Mendis | lbw b Suranga Lakmal | 85 | 53 | 7 | 4 | 160.38 |
| Danushka Gunathilaka | b Thisara Perera | 55 | 42 | 6 | 1 | 130.95 |
| Anwar Ali | c Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Thisara Perera | 12 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 171.43 |
| Bhanuka Rajapakse | c & b | 25 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 166.67 |
| Mohammad Hafeez | c & b | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Samit Patel | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 10 (b 0 , lb 7 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 188/5 (20 Overs, RR: 9.4) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-121 (13.5) Danushka Gunathilaka, 2-147 (15.5) Anwar Ali, 3-175 (18.5) Kusal Mendis, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mahesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 8.50 | |
| Suranga Lakmal | 3 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 9.67 | |
| Wahab Riaz | 4 | 0 | 39 | 2 | 9.75 | |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 4 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 8.25 | |
| Thisara Perera | 4 | 0 | 36 | 2 | 9.00 | |
| Shoaib Malik | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avishka Fernando | b | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 300.00 |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | c & b | 59 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 159.46 |
| Tom Kohler-Cadmore | c & b | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 80.00 |
| Ashen Bandara | run out () | 9 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 52.94 |
| Shoaib Malik | c & b | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Thisara Perera | c & b | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | c & b | 29 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 193.33 |
| Chathuranga de Sliva | c & b | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 75.00 |
| Wahab Riaz | b | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Suranga Lakmal | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Mahesh Theekshana | c & b | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 4 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 4, pen 0) |
| Total | 124/10 (16.5 Overs, RR: 7.37) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammad Amir | 3 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 7.33 | |
| Samit Patel | 3 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 11.00 | |
| Nuwan Thushara | 3.5 | 0 | 13 | 5 | 3.71 | |
| Isuru Udana | 3 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 6.33 | |
| Pulina Tharanga | 2 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 6.50 | |
| Mohammad Hafeez | 1 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 21.00 | |
| Anwar Ali | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 | |
