Galle Gallants have made a head start to the LPL with two wins out of two
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Following three days of intense competition in the first five matches of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) sixth edition at the SSC grounds, the roadshow now moves to Dambulla where the next nine games will take place till 26 July.
Kandy Royals without a win after two matches will be hoping to turn the tide in their favour when they confront Dambulla in the first match at the Rangiri Dambulla Cricket Stadium today.
Kandy Royals has had such a bad run that their captain Angelo Mathews has branded them as being “unprofessional” following repeated mistakes in the two games played so far. They are the only team without a win after the first round of matches. It’s not that Kandy Royals have not been posting the required totals on the board, but it is their wayward bowling and poor fielding that has let them down badly.
Galle Gallants is the team that is riding high at the moment with two wins out of two games which includes a comprehensive 36-run win over the defending champions Jaffna Kings in the tournament’s curtain-raiser match. Led by former Sri Lanka white ball captain Dasun Shanaka they have become a force to be reckoned with. The captain has led Galle Gallants from the front with his inspirational batting and bowling. They have a varied bowling attack with seamers Eshan Malinga and Pakistanis Mohammad Nawaz and Akif Javed and the leg-spin of Vijayakanth Viyaskanth to complement their solid batting line-up. For Charith Asalanka, the former Sri Lanka white ball captain who has lost his place in the national T20I side, the LPL is a good opportunity for him to perform and earn a recall for the tour of England in September where Sri Lanka is scheduled to play three T20Is.
Dambulla Sixers, the only other team apart from Galle Gallants to top 200 runs in an innings and have a plus net run rate, are locked on two points with Colombo Kaps and Jaffna Kings who both have minus net run rates.
Caught on a slow track Dambulla Sixers led by Dinesh Chandimal were bowled out for the lowest total so far – 130 to hand Jaffna Kings their first win. The win was contrived by their captain Bhanuka Rajapaksa who followed his team’s disciplined bowling, with a captivating knock of 61* off 37 balls on a pitch where no batsman made more than 27.
Dambulla Sixers who started off in style posting over 200 against Kandy Royals with South Africa’s top order batter Reeza Hendricks leading the way with a destructive 87* off 50 balls, failed to keep that momentum going when they succumbed to Jaffna Kings in their next game.
Colombo Kaps also registered their first win on Sunday chasing down Kandy Royals total of 179 with two balls to spare. At the halfway stage of the innings Kandy Royals seemed to have the game well under their control having captured four wickets for 67. But Janith Liyanage, a fighter to the core and New Zealand’s Jimmy Neesham turned the game on its head in a game changing partnership of 115 off 60 balls to snatch a win from nowhere. This was achieved without their captain Kusal Mendis who was forced to retire hurt after facing just four balls with a suspected hamstring injury. Colombo Kaps’ next match is not until Thursday which depending on the extent of his injury, Mendis’ availability can be gauged.
The first three days of the LPL has seen some outstanding cricket with both bat and ball aligned to the format. Now it is the turn of cricket fans in Dambulla to savour the delights of T20 cricket.