Jaffna Kings emerged champions for the 4th time in Lanka Premier League history , beating Galle Marvels by 9 wickets in the Final of 2024 edition, played at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium.
Jaffna Kings skipper Charith Asalanka won the all-important toss and decided to bowl first on a new dry pitch. Both Jaffna Kings and Galle Marvels came unchanged into this title clash.
Jason Behrendorff drew the first blood for the Kings, shattering the stumps of the opposite skipper in the second over. Even Alex Hales struggled, ending up slicing one in the air where Dhananjaya hanged onto it on the second attempt.
A woeful start saw the Marvels recorded the lowest powerplay score this season with a mere 21 runs. Half-centurion from the Qualifier 1, Janith Liyanage followed his openers to walk back to the pavilion, leaving them at 24/3.
Seifert too struggled to get going early in his innings as Galle finished the halfway mark with only 48 runs on the board. Immediately, Bhanuka Rajapaksa took the charge in Azmatullah Omarzai’s first over, hitting a six and a four to get 14 in the over.
In the next over, the kiwi batter smashed 23 off Vijayakanth Viyaskanth before Asitha Fernando castled him for 47. Then, the experienced Rajapaksa changed the fortunes for Galle.
The hard-hitting left hander blasted four sixes and a four off Charith Asalanka in the 16th over as he notched up a 21-ball fifty. He and Sahan Arachchige revived the innings with a 72-run partnership for the fifth wicket, within only 30 deliveries.
The latter holed out to deep mid-wicket for 16 off Omarzai. Soon after Fernando had the last laugh as he cleaned up Rajapaksa after an entertaining knock of 82 coming off just 34 balls.
136 runs came off the last 10 overs which saw Galle Marvels post 184/6 in their 20 overs. Fernando, who was the pick of the bowlers, picked up 3/35 while Behrendorff was exceptional with his new-ball spell, finishing with 2/18.
Dwaine Preetorius provided the Marvels a dream start with the wicket of Pathum Nissanka off the very-first delivery of the run chase. He was given out for a caught behind after going upstairs.
Since then, it was all about the marathon partnership between Kusal Mendis and Rilee Rossouw where they hammered the ball all around the park, making the bowlers toil hard.
Rossouw reached his half-century off 29 balls while Mendis raced to his fifty within just 24 balls. They continued to pile on the runs as the southpaw went onto register his second hundred of the season, using 50 balls and also became the first to reach the milestone in a LPL final.
An unbroken 185-run stand between them helped Jaffna Kings cruise the target with more than five overs to spare. This also marked the highest-ever partnership in LPL history as Jaffna Kings clinched their 4th LPL title.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Hales | c & b | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Niroshan Dickwella | b | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 62.50 |
| Tim Seifert | b | 47 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 127.03 |
| Janith Liyanage | c & b | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 87.50 |
| Bhanuka Rajapaksa | b | 82 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 241.18 |
| Sahan Arachchige | c & b | 16 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 114.29 |
| Dwaine Pretorius | not out | 12 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 120.00 |
| Isuru Udana | not out | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 200.00 |
| Extras | 7 (b 4 , lb 0 , nb 1, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 184/6 (20 Overs, RR: 9.2) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7.00 | |
| Jason Behrendorff | 4 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 4.50 | |
| Fabian Allen | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 5.00 | |
| Asitha Fernando | 4 | 0 | 35 | 3 | 8.75 | |
| Vijayakanth Viyaskanth | 3 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 13.00 | |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | 3 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 9.67 | |
| Charith Asalanka | 2 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 17.50 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c & b | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Kusal Mendis | not out | 72 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 180.00 |
| Rilee Rossouw | not out | 106 | 53 | 0 | 0 | 200.00 |
| Extras | 7 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 0, w 5, pen 0) |
| Total | 185/1 (15.4 Overs, RR: 11.81) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dwaine Pretorius | 2.4 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 7.50 | |
| Isuru Udana | 3 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 14.00 | |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 8.50 | |
| Sahan Arachchige | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 20.00 | |
| prabath jayasuriya | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 16.00 | |
| Janith Liyanage | 2 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 15.00 | |
| Kavindu Nadeeshan | 2 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 11.50 | |
