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Kusal Mendis's fifty in vain as Jaffna Kings pull off an unlikely victory

image-lbcaouggJK vs GG (Source: Twitter/LPL)

In the opening game of the Lanka Premier League 2022, Jaffna Kings overcame the Galle Gladiators challenge by 24 runs to earn two crucial points.

Commendable bowling effort from Galle

After being asked to bat first, Jaffna lost the early wicket of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (9) in the third over courtesy of Wahab Riaz, who bowled brilliantly to deliver a spell of 2/23 in four overs. One followed the other as they lost another quick wicket, leaving them trailing at 11/2. However, some decent batting by Dhananjaya De Silva who played a 29-run knock to propel his side to 48/4 which still wasn't enough.

Incoming batter Shoaib Malik held his crease with Dunith Wellalage with both of them scoring 30 each helping his team to reach 137 all-out. While there was no significant contribution from the lower order, the opposition bowlers put in a collective effort with Imad Wasim, Nuwan Thushara, Nuwan Pradeep and Iftikhar Ahmed scalping two each.

Kings pull off an unlikely victory

Chasing 138, it didn't look difficult enough when the opening stand for 58 runs between Nuwanidu Fernando and Kusal Mendis batted together. As soon as the first wicket fell, Galle lost the plot with the next three wickets falling quickly, which left them reeling at 79/4 by the beginning of the 13th over.

But things went downhill when Mendis departed for 51, with the score being 97 after the end of 16 overs. In the last four overs, requiring 41 for victory, the Galle-based side could only manage 16 runs as they were bowled out for 113. Binura Fernando and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth grabbed 3 and 2 wickets respectively to down their counterparts, taking their side to victory.

Brief Score:

Jaffna Kings: 137-10 (19.5 Overs)

Dunith Wellalage 30 (20), Shoaib Malik 30 (27);
Iftikhar Ahmed 2/8 (1), Imad Wasim 2/22 (4)

Galle Gladiators: 113-10 (20 Overs)

Kusal Mendis 51 (43), Imad Wasim 17 (22);
Binura Fernando 3/22 (3), Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 2/20 (4)

Match Result: Jaffna Kings won by 24 runs.

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