PALLEKELE: The fourth and final place for the Lanka Premier League (LPL) Play-offs still hung in the balance after Kandy Royals made a valiant attempt to reach the target of 222 set by Jaffna Kings, and although they made a fair fight to get there, the enormity of the run chase finally got to them and they lost by 21 runs at the Pallekele Cricket Stadium yesterday.
Defending champions Jaffna Kings’ five wins out of seven matches propelled them to the top of the table with 10 points and ensured them a top two place, while Kandy Royals, who have completed all their fixtures, remain in fourth position with six points and have to await the result of the Jaffna Kings vs. Dambulla Sixers game on Sunday to know their fate.
A win for Dambulla Sixers with a good net run rate will ensure they qualify as the fourth team in the Play-offs. The difference in the net run rate between Kandy Royals (-0.567) and Dambulla Sixers (-0.565) at the moment is marginal.
A win here yesterday would have made Kandy Royals the fourth team to qualify for the Play-offs. It was no doubt a huge run chase for them, and they began well with Lahiru Udara (30 off 15 balls) and Pawan Sandesh (48 off 21 balls, 5 fours, 4 sixes) posting 90 in seven overs. But Shakib Al Hasan took the wickets of Udara, Kusal Perera and, more importantly, Wanindu Hasaranga at a crucial phase of the game to dent Kandy Royals’ run chase. Zahoor Khan, and then Dunith Wellalage, turned the game on its head. Wellalage struck three times in eight balls and all but closed Kandy Royals’ run chase, ending with figures of 3/11.
A disappointed Hasaranga, substituting as Captain for this game in the absence of Angelo Mathews who is nursing an injury, said: ‘We had expected to lose because of our fielding. The batters did well. That is the only plus point we had.’
Kandy Royals put down as many as four catches during the Jaffna Kings innings and were made to pay for it dearly.
Jaffna Kings put up a solid batting effort to reach the highest total this season – 221/6. They started off like a runaway train with Avishka Fernando (36 off 22) and Kamil Mishara (49 off 26 balls, 2 fours, 5 sixes) bossing the powerplay, racing to 79. They carried their opening partnership to worth 95 off 45 balls before the Kandy Royals bowlers came back in style to reduce them to 139-5 in the 15th over.
But cameos from Player of the Match Chamindu Wickramasinghe (43 off 15 balls, 3 fours, 4 sixes), Al Hasan (22* off 16), and Wellalage (16* off 9) left Kandy Royals chasing a target of over 200 for the second time in two days.
Scores:
Jaffna Kings 221-6 (20) (Kamil Mishara 49, Avishka Fernando 36, Towhid Hridoy 21, Shakib Al Hasan 22*, Chamindu Wickramasinghe 43, Moeen Ali 2/38, Wanindu Hasaranga 2/27)
Kandy Royals 200 (20) (Lahiru Udara 30, Pawan Sandesh 48, Shaheen Afridi 24, Wanindu Hasaranga 24, Vijay Shankar 25, Dilshan Madushanka 2/36, Shakib Al Hasan 3/43, Zahoor Khan 2/32, Dunith Wellalage 3/11)