DAMBULLA: Defending champions Jaffna Kings lifted themselves from the bottom of the table when they beat Kandy Royals by a thumping margin of 93 runs in the first of two Lanka Premier League (LPL) matches played at the Rangiri Dambulla Cricket Stadium yesterday. The result left Kandy Royals at the bottom with two wins from six matches.
After the Jaffna Kings top order had gone hammer and tongs at the Kandy Royals’ bowling to post an above-par score of 199-4, the reply was rather poor as Kandy Royals folded up meekly for 106. In the circumstances, Lahiru Udara’s contribution of 54 off 51 balls (6 fours, 2 sixes) stood out like a beacon in Kandy Royals’ disappointed scorecard, where only two batsmen got into double figures. Seamer Mohamed Shiraz and spinner Dunith Wellalage helped themselves to some easy pickings, sharing six wickets between them.
Player of the Match Kamil Mishara (78 off 53 balls, 6 fours, 4 sixes) and Avishka Fernando (66 off 36 balls, 10 fours, 2 sixes) gave Jaffna Kings the platform to reach their final score with an opening stand of 129 off 77 balls. Towhid Hridoy (35* off 21) helped put the finishing touches to the innings.
At one point, Jaffna Kings looked set to post a score in excess of 200, but thanks to the Kandy Royals pacers, especially Shahin Shah Afridi, pulled things back slightly. Afridi returned figures of 3/27 and stemmed the flow of runs at the death. Nuwan Thushara, Moeen Ali, and Dushan Hemantha all went for plenty.
The players wore black armbands during the match as a mark of respect to former Sri Lanka Cricket President Upali Dharmadasa, who passed away on Saturday. – [ST]