Lanka Premier League 2023

‘Jaffna ka kya kehna’- Twitter reacts as Defending champions Jaffna Kings bags the 2nd spot in the points table in LPL 2022

Defending champions Jaffna kings beat Galle Gladiators by 16 runs in the 17th match of the Lanka Premier League 2023 on Sunday.

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Rohit Kumar
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Jaffna Kings (Source - Twitter)

Jaffna Kings (Source - Twitter)

Defending champions Jaffna kings beat Galle Gladiators by 16 runs in the 17th match of the Lanka Premier League 2023 on Sunday. Gladiators could have taken a big step towards qualification to the playoffs, but they've opened the door for Dambulla Aura to sneak in.

Jaffna were efficient with the ball and good in the field. They needed a win to confirm a top-2 finish and they did so in some style. After winning the toss, Kings’ captain, Thisara Perera opted to bat first. Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Avishka Fernando gave a blazing start to the innings but they couldn’t continue as Gurbaz was dismissed in the fourth over of the innings by Nuwan Thusara.

Avishka Fernando also departed after 2 overs. However, coming at no. 3, Afif Hossain played a magnificent inning of 54 runs off 35 balls, including 5 fours and 1 six. He stitched a responsible partnership of 66 runs with Sadeera Samarawickrama for the third wicket. Thisara Perera's fiery knock of 26 runs off just 13 balls helped the team to achieve a fighting total of 170 runs.

Galle Gladiators' batting lineup failed again

Chasing the target of 171 runs, the Gladiators had a bad start as they lost their in-form opening batter Thanuka Dabare in the 2nd over of the inning. Coming at no.3, Lahiru Udara got out in the very next ball in the 2nd over. Galle’s skipper Kusal Mendis played a very good knock but it wasn’t enough for the team to win the game as no one from the other end could keep the wickets safe.

Kings displayed a brilliant bowling performance as they didn’t let any batter settle in and kept picking wickets at regular intervals. Binura Fernando was the highest wicket-taking bowler from Jaffna as he dismissed 3 batters while conceding only 20 runs in his 4-over quota. Vijayakanth Viyaskanth took 2 wickets, while Maheesh Theekshana took 1 wicket and was very economical as well. He conceded only 18 runs in 4 overs.

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Lanka Premier League 2022-23 LPL