PALLEKELE: Defending champions Jaffna Kings joined Galle Gallants at the top of the table when they beat Colombo Kaps by 19 runs in the first match of the Lanka Premier League leg played at the Pallekele Cricket Stadium yesterday.
Both teams came to the match with an identical record of three wins and six points and it was Jaffna Kings who came out on top with a superlative performance with both bat and ball. They hit up a challenging total of 202-5 and kept Colombo Kaps pegged down to 183-9.
What made the difference was Towhid Hridoy’s late blitz in Jaffna Kings’ innings combined with costly dropped catches and misfields that cost Colombo Kaps the game.
The early loss of Rubin Hermann put Colombo Kaps on the back foot, but Sadeera Samarawickrama and Ashen Bandara fought back to steady the ship, adding 50 off 33 balls. Just as the fielding restrictions were lifted, disaster struck when Bandara threw his wicket away in a suicidal run-out. Skipper Kamindu Mendis carried on his fine form, playing a rapid 28 off 13 before falling in the 11th over. Dunith Wellalage brought into the attack in the 12th over struck immediately by removing the set Samarawickrama for 44 (36 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes). Janith Liyanage and Milan Rathnayaka briefly reignited hope with a flurry of boundaries, but the target proved too much for the men in yellow.
Jaffna Kings bowlers were disciplined with their lines and lengths at the death and were backed up by some top-notch fielding. Late hitting from Janith Liyanage, Malsha Tharupathi, and James Neesham only managed to narrow the margin. Dilshan Madushanka was the pick of the attack with three wickets, while Lizaad Williams claimed two to become the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 12 wickets and received the purple cap.
Jaffna Kings’ innings got off to a flier with Kamil Mishara hitting boundaries through the off-side and straight down the ground. He put the pressure right back on Colombo Kaps in the fourth over, smashing Shahnawaz Dahani for back to back sixes and a boundary in a 21-run over. Despite losing Avishka Fernando early, Jaffna Kings posted 61 runs in the powerplay, largely due to Mishara’s boundary fest. The 50-run stand off 29 balls between Mishara and Ibrahim Zadran was broken when Mishara was caught at deep cover for a 19-ball 44 (6 fours, 2 sixes). Zadran was handed a lifeline on 21 when Malsha Tharupathi dropped a simple caught and bowled chance. He laboured his way to a 41-ball half-century, surviving another drop on 56 when Milan Rathnayaka put him down at deep midwicket.
Dunith Wellalage promoted up the order struggled to get going, scoring 18 off 19 before being retired out in the 16th over. Zadran was dropped yet again on 80, Rathnayaka being the culprit at deep midwicket once again. He made Colombo Kaps play dearly for those lapses by smashing 22 runs off Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s final over to inject some real momentum into the innings. Colombo Kaps bowled brilliantly through the middle overs, but their death bowling fell apart with a flurry of full tosses and short balls and their fielders continued to let them down. Zadran was eventually run out for 95 off 65 balls (12 fours, 3 sixes), falling just short of a hundred with seven balls left in the innings.
Towhid Hridoy provided the finishing touches, launching Dahani for three consecutive sixes in the final over before adding another maximum and a boundary to finish unbeaten on 31 off just 8 balls (1 four, 4 sixes). To sum up the night for Colombo Kaps another catch was put down in the last over by Tharupathi. Neesham picked up two wickets while Mujeeb claimed one, but Hridoy’s late blitz propelled Jaffna Kings past the 200-run mark. – [ST]
Scores:
Jaffna Kings 202-5 (20) (Kamil Mishara 44, Ibrahim Zadran 95, Towhid Hridoy 31*, James Neesham 2/30) vs. Colombo Kaps 183-9 (20) (Sadeera Samarawickrama 44, Kamindu Mendis 28, Milan Rathnayaka 26, Janith Liyanage 20, Dilshan Madushanka 3/30, Lizaad Williams 2/47)