Tuesday Jul 28, 2026
Tuesday Jul 28, 2026
Friday, 24 July 2026 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
DAMBULLA: Galle Gallants seemed to have got the measure of defending champions Jaffna Kings when they beat them for the second time in the ongoing Lanka Premier League winning by a convincing margin of 60 runs at the Rangiri Dambulla Cricket Stadium yesterday.
When these two teams who were the 2024 finalists met in the LPL sixth edition curtain-raiser at the SSC a week ago, Galle Gallants won by 36 runs. But yesterday’s commanding win provided a massive boost to the Galle Giants net run rate as they sit perched nicely on top of the standings with six points and a net run rate of 0.864.
Colombo Kaps, Dambulla Sixers and Jaffna Kings are tied on four points each with only net run rate separating them.
Despite some poor fielding by Galle Gallants, Jaffna Kings never looked comfortable in their chase for 194 and were bowled out for 133 in 17.5 overs. Ambidextrous spinner Tharindu Ratnayake playing his first match for Galle Gallants landed a double blow in the third over removing Kamil Mishara and Shakib Al Hasan off consecutive deliveries. With four wickets down inside the power play, Jaffna Kings’ poor batting only continued as they lost Ibrahim Zadran after the fielding restrictions.
David Wiese and Dunith Wellalage offered a glimmer of hope with a 39-run stand, but once Wiese was caught in the deep off Ratnayake in the 11th over, Wellalage was left to play a lone hand, bringing up a maiden LPL 50 off 37 balls before becoming the last wicket to fall for a valiant 56 off 39 balls (4 fours, 4 sixes). Ratnayake and Eshan Malinga did most of the damage, sharing six wickets between them to seal a dominant win.
Galle Gallants found themselves in early trouble when they lost Sam Harper and Charith Asalanka inside the powerplay, but Chris Lynn helped boost their score to 45-2 by the end of the first six overs with a fiery knock of 46 off 22 balls (3 fours, 4 sixes). Lizaad Williams struck twice in one over to send back Lynn and Chamika Karunaratne and when Dilshan Madushanka removed Dinura Kalupahana things did not look good for Galle Gallants at 110-6 in the 15th over.
It was then that Sahan Arachchige took control to produce a gem of an innings racing to a 30-ball half-century. He had the fortune of being dropped three times within the space of four balls and he made Jaffna Kings pay dearly for it as he went after spinner Traveen Mathew in the 18th over. Arachchige and Mohammad Nawaz hammered 34 runs off that single over and their blistering stand of 68 off 30 balls was just the tonic that the Galle Gallants batting needed in the death overs to post a commanding total. Nawaz departed for 27 off 16 balls and Arachchige was finally run out off the last ball of the innings for a brilliant 63 scored off 36 balls (4 fours, 3 sixes) to take the Player of the Match award.
The tournament takes a break today and will continue on Saturday with two further matches.
Scores:
Galle Gallants 193-8 (20) (Chris Lynn 46, Sahan Arachchige 63, Mohammad Nawaz 27, Dilshan Madushanka 2/35, Lizaad Williams 2/37) vs. Jaffna Kings 133 (17.5) (David Wiese 22, Dunith Wellalage 56, Tharindu Ratnayake 3/19, Eshan Malinga 3/13)
