Jaffna Kings were back to winning ways after beating undefeated Galle Titans in Match No.7 of the Lanka Premier League 2023, which was held today (4th August) at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.
Galle Titans Skipper Dasun Shanaka has won the toss and decided to bat first. The Titans came into this game with the same XI, while the Kings made two changes, bringing Andre Burger and Nuwan Thushara in places of Hardus Viljeon and Dilshan Madushanka.
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Shevon Daniel and Lasith Croospulle were the openers but failed to provide a good start. Mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana drew the first blood for the Kings by castling the right-hander for 19. The Skipper Perera has brought Charith Asalanka inside the Powerplay with two left-handers at the crease.
The part-time off-spinner did what they wanted, dismissing dangerous Bhanuka Rajapaksa for a golden duck where he hit straight to David Miller at Mid On.
Daniel and Tim Seifert added 34 runs for the 3rd wicket before Dunith Wellalage got the wicket of Daniel for a run-a-ball 25. Once again, a well-judged catch was taken by safest Miller near the boundary rope. Seifert became Wellalage’s 2nd victim, trapping him in front of the stumps for 18.
Galle Titans continued to lose their wickets at regular intervals due to some disciplined bowling effort from the Kings. The Skipper Dasun Shanaka was the Titans’ top scorer, scoring 30 off 24 balls, including 2 fours & 2 sixes. They only managed to post 117/9 in their 20 overs.
In the bowling department, Dunith Wellalage was the star with the bowl, as he registered his best figures in LPL, claiming 4/10 in his 4 overs. Nandre Burgur has also picked up 2/15 while Charith Asalanka, Maheesh Theekshana and Nuwan Thushara shared the other 3 wickets between them.
<<< Seifert, bowlers set up massive win for Galle Titans >>>
When chasing an easy target, the openers in Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Charith Asalanka could not provide a good start for Jaffna Kings. Shakib Al Hasan has struck to get the wicket of Asalanka. The left-hander was trapped in front after scoring only 5 runs.
Then, it was about an exhibition of brilliant ball striking from Gurbaz and Towhid Hridoy. In the meantime, Gurbaz became the 4th leading run-scorer in LPL history, passing Danushka Gunathilake’s tally of 702 runs. The duo stitched together in a magnificent 83-run standoff with just 52 balls.
After scoring his 6th LPL fifty, Gurbaz was stumped by Shakib Al Hasan. He scored 54 off 39, which consisted of 3 fours & 5 sixes. Then, Hridoy and David Miller took their side home as Jaffna Kings chased the target in just 12.4 overs. Hridoy finished off in style with a couple of massive sixes as he remained unbeaten on 44 off just 23 balls within 2 fours & 4 sixes.
Shakib was the only successful bowler for the Titans with the figures of 2/31 in 4 overs. With this win, the defending champions have overtaken Galle Titans’ No.1 spot in the LPL points table.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shevon Daniel | c David Miller b Dunith Wellalage | 25 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Lasith Croospulle | b Maheesh Theekshana | 19 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 158.33 |
| Bhanuka Rajapaksa | c David Miller b Charith Asalanka | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Tim Seifert | lbw b Dunith Wellalage | 18 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 78.26 |
| Shakib Al Hasan | c Priyamal Perera b Dunith Wellalage | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Dasun Shanaka | b Nandre Burger | 30 | 24 | 2 | 2 | 125.00 |
| Lahiru Samarakoon | st Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Dunith Wellalage | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 11.11 |
| Akila Dananjaya | c Nuwan Thushara b Nandre Burger | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12.50 |
| Kasun Rajitha | b Nuwan Thushara | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Tabraiz Shamsi | not out | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Richard Ngarava | not out | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 200.00 |
| Extras | 7 (b 0 , lb 3 , nb 1, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 117/9 (20 Overs, RR: 5.85) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thisara Perera | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3.00 | |
| Nandre Burger | 2 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 7.50 | |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 4.75 | |
| Charith Asalanka | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.00 | |
| Vijayakanth Viyaskanth | 3 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 11.67 | |
| Nuwan Thushara | 4 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 7.00 | |
| Dunith Wellalage | 4 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 2.50 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | b Shakib Al Hasan | 54 | 39 | 3 | 5 | 138.46 |
| Charith Asalanka | lbw b Shakib Al Hasan | 5 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Towhid Hridoy | not out | 44 | 23 | 2 | 4 | 191.30 |
| David Miller | not out | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 175.00 |
| Extras | 10 (b 1 , lb 4 , nb 0, w 5, pen 0) |
| Total | 120/2 (12.4 Overs, RR: 9.47) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasun Rajitha | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Richard Ngarava | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2.00 | |
| Shakib Al Hasan | 4 | 0 | 31 | 2 | 7.75 | |
| Akila Dananjaya | 2.4 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 18.75 | |
| Tabraiz Shamsi | 3 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 8.67 | |
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 at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy. ){kind=link}