Jaffna Kings ride on Avishka’s maiden hundred to the final

Player of the Match Avishka Fernando of Jaffna Kings celebrates his maiden T20 century 

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (right) completes his half-century in the company of Avishka Fernando, the pair adding a record 122 runs for the first wicket

Chamika Karunaratne scored his maiden T20 50 with a late spurt for Dambulla Giants

In a winner takes all contest where the place in the final was at stake, defending champions Jaffna Kings rode on

Avishka Fernando’s maiden T20 century and his record opening partnership of 122 with Rahmanullah Gurbaz (70) to defeat Dambulla Giants by 23 runs in Qualifier 2 match of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) and book a place in the final against Galle Gladiators at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota yesterday.

Following their rather timid batting performance in Qualifier 1 against Galle Gladiators which they lost by 64 runs on Sunday, Jaffna came back roaring to top form with a productive batting display to rack up a formidable total of 210-4 and then running through the Dambulla batting restricting them to 187-9 with their varied bowling attack.

Dambulla’s batsmen had to bat out the best innings to qualify for the final and the flaw in their batting was their middle order which was put to the test and failed.

The inevitable was delayed by an adventurous maiden half-century from Chamika Karunaratne who took 21 runs off Jaffna skipper Thisara Perera on his way scoring an unbeaten 75 off 47 balls (2 sixes, 10 fours) – the highest individual score by a Dambulla batsmen in the tournament.

Openers Fernando and Gurbaz did enough damage to leave a massive dent in the Dambulla bowling as they led an onslaught exposing their limitations on a true pitch that suited Jaffna’s powerful batting line-up. 

Jaffna has proved that they are a very dangerous side when they have wickets in hand, and the opening partnership just provided them with the ideal platform to score the highest total in this year’s tournament.

Fernando, who took the Player of the Match award, paced his innings well, settling down and setting himself up for the big one. He changed gears very well and spared no one as he played a controlled innings of 100 off 64 balls. It was an outstanding knock featuring four sixes and 10 fours with every shot packing a punch and it was the first 100 of the current tournament and second overall.

Gurbaz rode his luck to provide an ideal foil to Fernando making a power-packed 70 off 40 balls that included four sixes and five fours picking the gaps and executing his shots perfectly.  

Dambulla’s fielding was not up to the mark, being poor in their catching and ground fielding with so many opportunities going abegging that it became a comedy of errors. Gurbaz was dropped at 11 and at 32 off the luckless Karunaratne and he made the most of it producing a sparkling display of batting to complete back to back fifties having made a top score of only 21 in his first five innings.

Gurbaz’s innings was restricted after 59 when he suffered a hamstring strain on his left leg. With his fourth six he broke the record for the opening partnership of 121 by Kusal Mendis and Danushka Gunathilaka for Galle Gladiators against Jaffna on Sunday before being dismissed off the next holing out to long-on to give Karunaratne his solitary wicket for an expensive 53 runs.

The three games Jaffna lost in the tournament to Galle they were chasing. By inserting Jaffna to bat first after winning the toss left one wondering whether Dambulla’s acting captain Niroshan Dickwella had missed a trick. However, Dambulla was left to rue their lapses on the field which left them chasing a mammoth target.

Jaffna will meet Galle Gladiators in the final on Thursday at the same venue.

Scores

Jaffna Kings 210-4 (20) (Avishka Fernando 100, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 70, Lahiru Samarakoon 2/30)

Dambulla Giants 187-9 (20) (Phil Salt 22, Najibullah Zadran 21, Chamika Karunaratne 75*, Maheesh Theekshana 2/23, Jayden Seales 3/24, Thisara Perera 2/50)