Galle Marvels kicked off their campaign with a thrilling last-ball win over Jaffna Kings in the 2nd Match of the Lanka Premier League 2024 in Pallekele.
After being asked to bat first, Jaffna Kings lost the early wicket of Kusal Mendis (4) as Zahoor Khan struck off his very first ball. Pathum Nissanka and Avishka Fernando added 81 runs in 58 balls for the second wicket.
In the process, Fernando smashed three successive fours off Janith Liyanage in the 11th over, while Nissanka reached his fifty off 30 deliveries in the 12th over before falling to Dwaine Pretorius in the next over.
Rilee Rossouw’s stay at the crease did not last long as Zahoor trapped him LBW. Pretorius then dismissed the former for 59, leaving the Kings at 126/4 in 16.4 overs.
However, a 23-run over from Isuru Udana helped Jaffna regain some momentum as skipper Charith Asalanka hit a couple of lusty blows and a four in that over. Asalanka’s useful cameo of 15-ball 33 and Dhananjaya de Silva’s 8-ball 18 took Jaffna Kings to 177/7 in their 20 overs.
Zahoor was the pick of the Marvels’ bowling as he finished with 3/34. Pretorius was also handy with the ball, scalping 2/23, while Udana was taken to the cleaners, ending with 2/60 in his four overs.
Galle Marvels raced to 35 in the first three overs, hitting Pramod Madushan for four boundaries in the same over. Dickwella went all guns blazing to finish the powerplay, posting 53/0.
Dhananjaya broke that partnership as the Marvels’ skipper missed out on his half-century, getting out for 47 off just 27 balls. After getting a start, Hales reached his fifty with a six over long-on before Fabian Allen removed Tim Seifert (10 off 13) in the same over.
The experienced English opener stroked a 65-run knock in 47 balls before Allen castled him to bring Jaffna back into the game. Bhanuka Rajapaksa also failed to get going, but Liyanage kept them in the hunt, hitting a six and a four in the same over against Asitha Fernando.
When Galle needed 20 to win in the last two overs, Jason Behrendorff conceded only five off the first five deliveries before Pretorius spoiled the penultimate over with a six. Fernando struck back to dismiss Liyanage after hitting a boundary, as the latter played a fine cameo of 25 in just 13 balls.
Fernando conceded only two singles in the fourth and fifth deliveries. Somehow, Sahan Arachchige took his side over the line with a boundary when they required three off the last ball, as Galle Marvels began their campaign with a five-wicket win.
Dhananjaya was economical with figures of 1/16, while Allen and Fernando each picked up a couple of wickets, but they were not able to prevent Jaffna Kings from a defeat.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Alex Hales b Dwaine Pretorius | 51 | 33 | 6 | 2 | 154.55 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Isuru Udana b Zahoor Khan | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 57.14 |
| Avishka Fernando | c Maheesh Theekshana b Dwaine Pretorius | 59 | 48 | 7 | 1 | 122.92 |
| Rilee Rossouw | lbw b Zahoor Khan | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14.29 |
| Charith Asalanka | c Bhanuka Rajapaksa b Zahoor Khan | 33 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 220.00 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Janith Liyanage b Isuru Udana | 18 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 225.00 |
| Fabian Allen | lbw b Isuru Udana | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Vijayakanth Viyaskanth | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Pramod Madushan | not out | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 400.00 |
| Extras | 6 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 1, w 5, pen 0) |
| Total | 177/7 (20 Overs, RR: 8.85) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dwaine Pretorius | 4 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 5.75 | |
| Isuru Udana | 4 | 0 | 60 | 2 | 15.00 | |
| Zahoor Khan | 4 | 0 | 34 | 3 | 8.50 | |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 6.00 | |
| Malsha Tharupathi | 3 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 7.67 | |
| Janith Liyanage | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niroshan Dickwella | c & b Dhananjaya de Silva | 47 | 27 | 8 | 1 | 174.07 |
| Alex Hales | b Fabian Allen | 65 | 47 | 7 | 2 | 138.30 |
| Tim Seifert | b Fabian Allen | 10 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 76.92 |
| Bhanuka Rajapaksa | c Vijayakanth Viyaskanth b Asitha Fernando | 13 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Janith Liyanage | c Pathum Nissanka b Asitha Fernando | 25 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 192.31 |
| Dwaine Pretorius | not out | 9 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 180.00 |
| Sahan Arachchige | not out | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 250.00 |
| Extras | 5 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 179/5 (20 Overs, RR: 8.95) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Behrendorff | 4 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 9.25 | |
| Asitha Fernando | 4 | 0 | 40 | 2 | 10.00 | |
| Pramod Madushan | 2 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 12.50 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 4 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 4.00 | |
| Vijayakanth Viyaskanth | 2 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 13.00 | |
| Fabian Allen | 4 | 0 | 33 | 2 | 8.25 | |
