Match Details
Some brilliant individual performances to kick off the second season of Lanka Premier League. The caravan rolls on with a double header tomorrow. Do join us for that and all the other cricketing action around the globe. For the time being, it’s me Tushar Garg, along with Ajay Ahire and Ayan Chatterjee saying goodbye. Good night!
Galle Gladiators win by a comprehensive margin of 54 runs. This has been a stellar bowling performance by the Galle Gladiators. After a brisk start against the pacers, Jaffna Kings felt like they had the best of the power play. But Mohammed Hafeez had other ideas, he quickly sent back both the openers inside the power play. The wicket of Upul Tharanga was a critical one as he was threatening to take the game away with some sumptuous stroke-play. The Pakistani allrounder finished with an outstanding spell of 2-11. Spin continued to rule the roost from there on with Samit Patel and Noor Ahmed chipping in with wickets to derail the chase pretty swiftly. They crumbled in the wake of creeping required run rate and were not helped by some ordinary stroke-making from their batters.
Earlier, the Galle outfit posted a competitive total of 164 on the board. Bhanuka Rajapaksa propelled the innings forward with an imposing half-century. He played with remarkable fluency and lifted his team from a tricky position, they had lost three wickets inside the powerplay. Samit Patel contributed with a vital knock coming in at number six. Mahesh Theekshana, Jayden Seales and Wanindu Hasaranga combined well to tailor a good bowling performance for the Jaffna Kings who would have fancied their chances to at the halfway stage with the dew kicking in. But that wasn’t to be the case as they were humbled later on.