Jaffna Kings proved their domination in the Lanka Premier League (LPL), winning their third consecutive title beating Colombo Stars by 2 wickets in the LPL 2022 final at RPICS on Friday (23).
Defending champions Jaffna Kings skipper Thisara Perera won the toss and elected to field first. Perera kicked things off with a wicket off his first over, dismissing Nishan Madushka for 1. Colombo Stars didn’t crumble as they have done on several occasions, as Dinesh Chandimal and Charith Asalanka added 75 runs for the 2nd wicket.
Asalanka was the chief aggressor but unfortunately he had to walk back after a smart bit of bowling from young Dunith Wellalage. Chandimal had to anchor the innings through but he too perished trying to complete a tight double when he was on 48.
Colombo Stars needed to finish big but their two most experienced middle order batters Angelo Mathews and Mohammad Nabi failed to contribute in a significant way. However, thanks to Ravi Bopara’s 33-ball 47, Stars posted a decent total of 163 runs. Apart from Binura Fernando who went for plenty for the first time in the tournament, the rest of the Kings bowlers were right on the money through the innings.
In response, similar to their approach in the qualifier, the Kings openers went hard in the powerplay. Rahmanullah Gurbaz made his intentions clear in the very first over against Kasun Rajitha, hitting a 6 and 4 in the 2nd and 3rd deliveries. The Afghan batter scored 36 off just 17 balls to set the chase on fire.
The baton was then passed on to Sadeera Samarawickrama who took it on and accelerated further. Together with Avishka Fernando, Samarawickrama added 72 for the 3rd wicket. At the time Samarawickrama was dismissed, they needed only 36 off 30 balls.
However, Kings lost their way towards the latter part with few rash shots and silly running between the wickets. They lost 6 wickets for 34 runs but ultimately a wide and bye got them over the line to secure their third consecutive title.
Colombo Stars 163 for 5 (20)
Dinesh Chandimal 49, Ravi Bopara 47*, Charith Asalanka 31, Thisara Perera 1/16, Dunith Wellalage 1/18
Jaffna Kings 164 for 8 (19.2)
Avishka Fernando 50, Sadeera Samarawickrama 44, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 36, Suranga Lakmal 3/23, Benny Howell 2/17