'Iss run mein bhi har gaye'- Fans reacts as Dambulla Aura beat Jaffna Kings by 9 runs in LPL 2023

On Monday, Dambulla Aura (DA) beat Jaffna Kings (JK) by nine runs in the 11th match of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) at Pallekele International Stadium, Kandy. After the win DA are at the top of the table with six points and a run rate of 0.364. They have won three out of five games.

Kings struggled to score 135 runs and were unable to cope with speed trio Hasan Ali, Binura Fernando, and Hayden Kerr, who combined superbly to send them reeling to 27 for 4 in the seventh over, limiting them to 125 runs. Shoaib Malik tried to pull off the chase for the Kings, but he was denied enough support at the other end.

Hasan Ali shines in a low-scoring total

Hasan Ali was chosen as the man of the match after finishing with numbers 4-0-20-3. Binura Fernando, Noor Ahmad, and Hayden Kerr each took one wicket. The Pakistan pacer, stated, "We were thinking of putting up 160+ but as a bowling unit we thought if we believed in ourselves we could win this game. Just focused on bowling on a hard length. We had plans, luckily we got some early wickets and put them under pressure. The surface wasn't that easy though, ball wasn't coming on to the bat. Credit to Shoaib Malik though, he always makes it look easy. Unfortunately for him, they couldn't win."

The Kings' best performer was Shoaib Malik, but it was in vain. The veteran finished his first LPL 2023 match with 4-0-13-2 numbers. As the Kings reduced the Aura to 134 runs, he got crucial wickets of Kusal Perera and Dhananjaya de Silva. Throughout the run-chase, Malik had no assistance from his teammates.

He batted all the way to the finish, scoring 74 runs off 53 balls, including five fours and six sixes. With 34 runs needed off the last over, the former Pakistan captain hit Noor Ahmed for three sixes and a four. Malik, on the other hand, was waging a losing battle since he had no support from the other batters.

Here's how fans reacted: 

Mashallah congratulations

— Babar amin156 (@Babaram25450737) August 8, 2023

Babar Azam for Colombo Strikers 👑
Hassan Ali for Dambulla Aura ⚡
Usama Mir for Manchester Originals ⭐

Three Player of the Match awards on the same day – Good Day for Pakistani Boys at Work pic.twitter.com/rEKnboF7ue

— Shaheen Fan Club ® (@ShaheenFC_) August 8, 2023

Well done Kusal doing the interview in Sinhalese.

— JR (@jrlanka) August 7, 2023

Oh!Wow!That is extremely so fantastic as he's a spectacular all-rounder in his career n almost won for Jaffna Kings after d first match of d tournament yesterday n even I did feel a bit nervous though in d last overs before Hassan Ali n Noor Ahmad restricted some runs!🙏🏻

— DGuy (@Superb_Talent1) August 7, 2023

They lost the match in 16th over when mailk gives strike to theekshana and he played 4 dots in a row.

— Ch Burhan🏏 (@ChBurhan9289270) August 7, 2023

Brilliant effort by Shoaib Malik but couldn't carry Jaffna Kings over the line 🙄#LPL2023 #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/kc3HpaUCLa

— WaJii khan (@WaJiikhan10) August 7, 2023

Well done to both of them as well as Shoaib Malik boss for scoring seventy plus runs against my beloved Dambulla Aura for Jaffna Kings despite his cricket team losing,sexy good friend!!!🧚‍♀️

— DGuy (@Superb_Talent1) August 7, 2023

he is best all-rounder in t20 format, and match finisher as well.@realshoaibmalik take a bow & huge respect for him.
Great All-rounder Of All Time Pakistan Produced.#LPL2023 #ShoaibMalik

— YASH KHAN SALMAN (@yashkhan2417) August 8, 2023