Jaffna Kings pull off win in six-hitting fest

Rovman Powell of Kandy Warriors scored the second fastest fifty of the tournament off 15 balls 

 Thisara Perera and Avishka Fernando of Jaffna Kings put on the fastest century partnership of the tournament off 33 balls

In a brilliant game of cricket interrupted by rain, defending champions Jaffna Kings pulled off a 14-run win over Kandy Warriors in the second double-header of the LPL played at the R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday.

It took some skilled bowling by the experienced Suranga Lakmal to clinch the match in favour of Jaffna after Kandy put up a tremendous fight courtesy the outrageous batting of Rovman Powell, who struck 61 off 19 balls inclusive of seven sixes, and Charith Asalanka, who struck 42 off 19 balls, inclusive of five fours and two sixes, as Kandy, chasing a target of 182 off 14 overs, finished on 166/5. The match produced a total of 27 sixes.

Lakmal got rid of the dangerous Powell with a yorker and conceded only 25 runs off his three overs to take the Player of the Match award.

Extraordinary hitting by Jaffna Kings Skipper Thisara Perera and Avishka Fernando, who indulged themselves in the fastest century stand of the tournament off 33 balls, saw Jaffna Kings race to an amazing 181/6 after rain had reduced the contest into a 14-over affair.

Before the rains came and interrupted the match, Jaffna, put into bat first, were 17/1 off 2.5 overs. When the rain ceased and the match resumed, it was a display of ruthless hitting by Perera and Fernando, who only dealt in sixes. What started the rain of sixes was the solitary over bowled by Tillakaratne Sampath, brother of the more illustrious Tillakaratne Dilshan. Fernando smashed him for five consecutive sixes in an over which cost him 31 runs. Jaffna carried that momentum right till the end of their innings with Perera also joining the sixes parade, hammering six sixes and two fours in his knock of 53 off 21 balls. Fernando dealt only in sixes and his identical innings that came off 23 balls comprised of seven sixes. Jaffna hit a total of 16 sixes in their innings, with 147 runs being scored off the last nine overs. While all the Kandy bowlers got a pasting, UAE’s Shiraz Ahmed was the pick of them, finishing with 3/22.

Result:

Jaffna Kings 181/6 (14) (Avishka Fernando 53, Thisara Perera 53, Chaturanga de Silva 21, Shiraz Ahmed 3/22) beat Kandy Warriors 166/5 (14) (Kennar Lewis 41, Charith Asalanka 42, Rowman Powell 61, Jayden Seales 2/40) by 14 runs. – (ST)