Galle Titans bounced back after four straight losses to beat the Jaffna Kings in Match No.17 of the Lanka Premier League 2023 at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.
After having won the toss, the Jaffna Kings Captain Thisara Perera decided to bat first. They made one change, bringing in Asela Gunaratne for Charith Asalanka while the Titans made three, bringing in Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Seekkuge Prasanna and Tabraiz Shamsi for Shevon Daniel, Ashan Priyanjan and Richard Ngarava.
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The defending champions got off to a disaster of a start, losing the first 4 wickets for just 7 runs in 2.3 overs. Afghan batter, Rahmanullah Gurbaz continued his poor form dismissed for a second-ball duck in the very first over off Kasun Rajitha. In the 2nd over, Lahiru Kumara made his mark as Chris Lynn chopped on.
Nishan Madushka was the next to fall when Rajitha got it to swing as the batter only managed to a nick behind. Two balls later, Rajitha ripped through the in-form Shoaib Malik for a duck as well which reduced Jaffna to 7/4. Rajitha continued to impress and this time he got the big fish, David Miller. He was early into his stroke off a slow delivery and ended up chipping it back to the bowler as they have lost half of their side inside the powerplay – 21/5.
Asela Gunaratne was trapped in front by Shakib Al Hasan as the 6th wicket. Captain Thisara Perera’s brief stay was ended for 13 by Tabraiz Shamsi. Dunith Wellalage was the top scorer for Jaffna again, scoring 22 off 31.
After losing 8 for 56, Maheesh Theekshana and Dilshan Madushanka built up the highest stand of the innings, adding 24 runs in 7.3 overs. Madushanka had to depart for 12 courtesy of Kumara’s ripping yorker. Nuwan Thushara hit a meaty blow to get a six in the final over against Lahiru Samarakoon before being run out off the last ball for 7 as the Jaffna Kings were bundled out for 89. Theekshan remained not out on 13 off 23.
On the other hand, Rajitha who did the damage for the Kings finished with brilliant figures of 4/20. Kumara too bowled a superb spell to pick 2/13 in 4 overs including a maiden over. Shamsi bagged 2/19 while Shakib also captured one.
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Tim Seifert and Bhanuka Rajapaksa walked out to the middle and added 34 runs in 4.3 overs to get the Galle innings off to a flier. Maheesh Theekshana struck to dismiss Rajapaksa for 15, before Chad Bowes joined his countryman Seifert to put on a 51-run partnership for the 2nd wicket.
During that partnership, Seifert reached his 3rd fifty this season off 40 balls. However, with only 5 runs to win, Dilshan Madushanka got the wicket of Seifert. Shakib Al Hasan fell to Shoaib Malik, but Skipper Dasun Shanaka hit the winning runs in the next delivery as the Galle Titans have managed to bounce back after 4 consecutive losses to register their 3rd win of the tournament.
The defending champs Jaffna have now finished their games and will have to wait and see what their fate will be with the other teams’ results set to decide the league table.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nishan Madushka | c Sohan de Livera b Kasun Rajitha | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | c Chad Bowes b Kasun Rajitha | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Chris Lynn | b Lahiru Kumara | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Dunith Wellalage | c Sohan de Livera b Tabraiz Shamsi | 22 | 31 | 4 | 0 | 70.97 |
| Shoaib Malik | b Kasun Rajitha | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| David Miller | c & b Kasun Rajitha | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 83.33 |
| Asela Gunaratne | lbw b Shakib Al Hasan | 7 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 87.50 |
| Thisara Perera | b Tabraiz Shamsi | 13 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 144.44 |
| Maheesh Theekshana | not out | 13 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 56.52 |
| Dilshan Madushanka | b Lahiru Kumara | 12 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 41.38 |
| Nuwan Thushara | run out () | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 233.33 |
| Extras | 4 (b 1 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 89/10 (20 Overs, RR: 4.45) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasun Rajitha | 4 | 0 | 20 | 4 | 5.00 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 4 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 3.25 | |
| Dasun Shanaka | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8.00 | |
| Shakib Al Hasan | 4 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 3.25 | |
| Tabraiz Shamsi | 4 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 4.75 | |
| Seekkuge Prasanna | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3.00 | |
| Lahiru Samarakoon | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhanuka Rajapaksa | c Shoaib Malik b Maheesh Theekshana | 15 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 136.36 |
| Tim Seifert | c Thisara Perera b Dilshan Madushanka | 55 | 42 | 5 | 1 | 130.95 |
| Chad Bowes | not out | 13 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 56.52 |
| Shakib Al Hasan | c David Miller b Shoaib Malik | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Dasun Shanaka | not out | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 200.00 |
| Extras | 3 (b 1 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 90/3 (13.3 Overs, RR: 6.67) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dilshan Madushanka | 4 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 7.00 | |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 3.00 | |
| Nuwan Thushara | 4 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 9.50 | |
| Dunith Wellalage | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Shoaib Malik | 0.3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6.67 | |
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 to beat the Jaffna Kings in the Match No.17 of the Lanka Premier League 2023 at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.){kind=link}