Galle Gallants stuck to their motto – Brave by Nature, when they became only the second team in Lanka Premier League (LPL) history to stop the dominance of Jaffna Kings when they beat them by five wickets in the final to win the sixth edition of the tournament at the R Premadasa Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
B-Love Kandy were the first team to stop the Jaffna Kings juggernaut when they won the title in 2023, but Jaffna managed to win it back in 2024 for the fourth time making them the most successful team in the competition.
Captained by former Sri Lanka white ball skipper Dasun Shanaka, Galle Gallants were fourth time lucky after being the losing finalist in three previous occasions to Jaffna Kings in 2020, 2021 and 2024. In the first two occasions Galle then known as Galle Gladiators was captained by Bhanuka Rajapaksa and in 2024 going as Galle Marvels by Niroshan Dickwella. For Rajapaksa who led Jaffna Kings this year it was the third defeat as captain in an LPL final.
‘Playing as a team and having that friendly atmosphere to perform and trusting each other’s strengths was the key,’ was how Galle Gallants’ head coach Pubudu Dassanayake described the win.
‘We played aggressive cricket throughout regardless of whatever the result we got. We lost Qualifier 1 to Jaffna Kings by 14 runs chasing 243, but that was our strength and it worked.’
Galle Gallants were able to contain the Jaffna Kings batting in the first powerplay keeping them down to 41-2 through their spinners and continued to keep a tight leash on them right throughout the innings to bowl them out for 123 with three balls still remaining.
‘The wicket was slightly drier than the previous ones we played on and we knew that it was going to grip a little bit. But still, it was a good batting pitch,’ said Dassanayake.
Asked how Galle Gallants managed to break the stranglehold Jaffna Kings had in the tournament Dassanayake replied, ‘I don’t know about the past but the players we had this year were good. The key to everything else was that we had a good environment group to get the best out of everyone. All of them played as a unit. They were treated well and everyone gave their 100 percent. That was the difference.’
Dassanayake credited his support staff for ensuring none of the players got injured during a tightly packed schedule.
‘The tournament schedule was tough, we had several back to back games but all credit to our staff especially the medical staff, physios and trainers. We sat down and we had a good plan to make sure that no one got injured. Basically, if I am not wrong all the teams struggled with their fitness. I thought we managed ours pretty well that we didn’t have a single injury.’
Since turning to cricket coaching after representing Sri Lanka in 11 Tests and 16 ODIs as a wicket-keeper/batsman between 1993 and 1994, 56-year-old Dassanayake coached DS Senanayake and Bloomfield briefly before migrating to Canada where he had a successful run helping USA and Nepal qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup and Canada for the ICC Cricket World Cup, and also seeing all three countries gaining ODI status. Prior to handling Galle Gallants in the LPL he coached Janakpur Bolts to win the Nepal Premier League.
‘My strength is I always try to bring players together and try to get the best out of them. Sometimes it doesn’t show in the bigger picture, but I think it has a huge impact on winning.’
Relating how he came to coach Galle Gallants, Dassanayake said, ‘I am the head coach of the USA. The owners of Galle Gallants are also from the USA (Gallant Sports and Media LLC based in Florida, USA). They asked me whether I can spend time with Galle Gallants by taking over as coach. I was not sure whether USA Cricket would give me permission to undertake that role, but at the last minute they said okay and to go ahead.’
From 2025 Dassanayake is on a three-year contract with USA as their head coach. Although USA Cricket is currently suspended it is run by an ICC appointed body and they are allowed to participate in all international tournaments.
Galle Gallants collected $150,000 as champions, Jaffna Kings $100,000 as runner-up while individual awards were won by Charith Asalanka ($1,500 as Player of the Final), Kamil Mishara ($10,000 as Player of the Tournament) and Traveen Mathew (Rover Scrambler motorbike as Best Emerging Player).