Jaffna Kings pulled off their highest run-chase in LPL history, handing Dambulla Sixers their 2nd straight loss in the 4th match of Lanka Premier League, played at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
After deciding to bowl first, Jaffna Kings opened the attack with two off spinners in skipper Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya De Silva which have seen very rarely in any form of the game.
The former got succeeded when he castled Danishka Gunathilaka (9 off 11) at the beginning of the 4th over. After getting a slow start, Kusal Perera and Nuwanidu Fernando accelerated the innings with a brilliant 108-run stand for the 2nd wicket.
Once again, De Silva has broken that 64-ball partnership, dismissing Fernando for 40. Previous game saviour, Mark Chapman joined Perera in the middle and stitched together in an unbroken 65-run partnership within only 38 balls.
Meanwhile, Perera entered LPL record books with the tournament’s fastest-ever hundred, coming off just 50 balls. This was stranded as the 5th century in Lanka Premier League history as Sixers posted 191 runs in their 20 overs.
The hard-hitting southpaw remained unbeaten on 102 facing 52 balls which consisted of 10 fours and 5 sixes. He was well supported by Chapman with a 23-ball 33. All the Jaffna bowlers except De Silva could not make any impact with the ball as the off spinner bowled an economical spell of 2/25 in 4 overs.
Jaffna lost 3 early wickets for only 36 runs on the board with Mustafizur Rahman, Nuwan Thushara and Mohammad Nabi each scalping a wicket. Avishka Fernando, who got a different role in batting at No.4, partnered with his skipper Asalanka to revive the innings.
The Sixers were on top when Jaffna got to 90/3 after 12 overs, requiring 102 runs from 8 overs. Chamindu Wickramsinghe brought into the attack for the 13th over which became the over for Fernando and Asalanka to capitalise when the required rate was well over 12.50.
Fernando took him to the cleaners in the first 4 balls, hitting a six and 3 fours before reaching his fifty in 21 balls. Then he finished off Akila Dananjaya’s 3rd over with a couple of maximums before skipper smoked 4 successive sixes off Nimesh Vimukthi, bringing up his fifty.
The equation came down to 41 off 30 and boundaries continued to flow when Fernando smashed 3 fours in a row against Thushara. Asalanka (50 off 36) looked to loft off Mustafizur but holed out to deep cover, making the end to a cracking partnership of 134 which took only 66 balls.
Thushara bowled a superb 18th over and that made even better when he dismissed well-set Fernando. He smashed 80 runs facing only 34 balls, compiling 7 fours and 6 sixes.
With both set batters dismissed in 2 overs, Dambulla bowlers managed to claw back slightly and pushed it down to the last ball. However, Fabian Allen kept his cool as finished off with a six to get their first 2 points this season, pulling off the 2nd-highest successful run chase in LPL history.
Thushara and Mustifizur grabbed two wickets apiece while skipper Nabi was also economical with the ball, finishing with 1/20 but other bowlers had a really tough time with the ball.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dhanushka Gunathilake | b Dhananjaya de Silva | 9 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 81.82 |
| Kusal Perera | not out | 102 | 52 | 10 | 5 | 196.15 |
| Nuwanidu Fernando | c Pathum Nissanka b Dhananjaya de Silva | 40 | 35 | 2 | 0 | 114.29 |
| Mark Chapman | not out | 33 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 150.00 |
| Extras | 7 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 1, w 4, pen 0) |
| Total | 191/2 (20 Overs, RR: 9.55) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charith Asalanka | 3 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 8.33 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 4 | 0 | 25 | 2 | 6.25 | |
| Asitha Fernando | 4 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 10.25 | |
| Jason Behrendorff | 4 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 10.00 | |
| Vijayakanth Viyaskanth | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 9.50 | |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | 2 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 15.00 | |
| Fabian Allen | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Mohammad Nabi b Nuwan Thushara | 27 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 150.00 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Nuwanidu Fernando b Mustafizur Rahman | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 75.00 |
| Rilee Rossouw | c Kusal Perera b Mohammad Nabi | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16.67 |
| Avishka Fernando | c Chamindu Wickramasinghe b Nuwan Thushara | 80 | 34 | 7 | 6 | 235.29 |
| Charith Asalanka | c Nuwanidu Fernando b Mustafizur Rahman | 50 | 36 | 4 | 4 | 138.89 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | run out (Towhid Hridoy) | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 112.50 |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | not out | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Fabian Allen | not out | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 183.33 |
| Extras | 9 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 0, w 7, pen 0) |
| Total | 197/6 (20 Overs, RR: 9.85) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nimesh Vimukthi | 4 | 0 | 50 | 0 | 12.50 | |
| Nuwan Thushara | 4 | 0 | 34 | 2 | 8.50 | |
| Mustafizur Rahman | 4 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 7.50 | |
| Mohammad Nabi | 4 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 5.00 | |
| Akila Dananjaya | 3 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 13.67 | |
| Chamindu Wickramasinghe | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 20.00 | |
