Jaffna stumble in last hurdle but top group

Jaffna Kings have been the most organized franchise in the LPL and they have been brilliant in the group stage. The defending champions won six of their eight games while losing two and on both those occasions it was Galle Gladiators who found a chink in Jaffna Kings’ armour. Friday’s first game saw Jaffna stumbling chasing a modest target of 130 with spin proving to be their Achilles’ heel.

Left-arm duo of Samit Patel and Noor Ahmad had Jaffna Kings in a spin as they shared four wickets between them polishing the top order. More importantly, the pair’s eight overs cost Galle Gladiators only 27 runs.

Galle Gladiators never found momentum in their innings with just three batsmen getting into double figures. Chasing 130, the Jaffna Kings were shot out for 109 runs inside 19 overs.

Incidentally, the two teams will meet in the playoffs. They will play the Qualifier 1 on Sunday at Hambantota with the winner going through to the final and the loser meeting the team that wins the Eliminator, also on Sunday at Hambantota.

In the low scoring thriller on Friday, the highest individual score was 23 and that gave an indication as to how much the ball dominated the bat.

Left-arm orthodox spinner Praveen Jayawickrama and right-arm leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth did the job for Jaffna Kings claiming two wickets apiece.

A similar combination ensured Jaffna Kings downfall during the run chase. Nottingham’s Samit Patel is an experienced campaigner and he has had a good LPL and proved to be a match winner again. Left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmed from Afghanistan whose official age is 16 was quite a handful putting the pressure after Patel had done the early damage.

Ahmad accounted for the big wickets of Shoaib Malik and Thisara Perera.

The knockout clash should be an interesting one. Jaffna Kings are a formidable outfit but they have been caught off guard twice now by Galle Gladiators and the former champions will be under pressure going into the qualifier.

Brief Scores:

Galle Gladiators 129 for eight

(20)

(Danushka Gunathilaka 19, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 23, Praveen Jayawickrama 2/13, Vijaykanth Viyaskanth 2/21)

Jaffna Kings 109 all out

(18.3)

(Rahmanullah Gurbaz 21, Shoaib Malik 23, Samit Patel 2/15, Noor Ahmad 2/12)