The Jaffna Kings reserved a place in the Lanka Premier League final after beating Dambulla Giants by 23 runs on Tuesday. After posting a humungous total of 210/4, the Kings restricted the Giants to 187/9 in their 20 overs. Jayden Seales was the pick of the bowlers for the Kings with figures of 3/24.
Philip Salt and Captain Niroshan Dickwella got the Giants off to a great start with an opening partnership of 39 runs in 3.3 overs, however, after Suranga Lakmal dismissed Salt, the Giants kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Chamika Karunaratne played an extraordinary innings of 75* runs from 47 balls, but he didn’t find support from the other end as the Giants eventually fell short of their target.
Earlier, Jaffna Kings’ opening batters Avishka Fernando and Rahmanullah Gurbaz put up a fantastic opening stand of 122 runs in 13.2 overs. Fernando scored a century off 64 balls, while Gurbaz notched 70 runs from 40 balls. Fernando struck 10 boundaries and 4 sixes during his innings, meanwhile, Gurbaz smashed 5 fours and 4 sixes during his knock.
