
Hambantota, December 22: Jaffna Kings reserved a place in the Lanka Premier League (LPL 2021) final after beating Dambulla Giants by 23 runs despite Chamika Karunaratne's fighting knock.
In the final to be played on Thursday (December 23), Jaffna will face Galle Gladiators. The Gladiators had beaten Dambulla Giants to enter the title round.
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.
Karunaratne played an extraordinary innings of 75 not out 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.
Here are the details of the final
1 Final Date and Time
The LPL 2021 final will be played between Galle Gladiators and Jaffna Kings on Thursday (December 23). The match time is at 7.30 PM IST.
2 TV Channel, Live Streaming
TV: Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 2 HD.
Live streaming: Sony LIV
3 Squads
Jaffna Kings: Thisara Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Krishan Sanjula, Suranga Lakmal, Jayden Seales, Ashen Bandara, Upul Tharanga, Wahab Riaz, Chanika Gunasekara, Chaturanga de Silva, Rathnaraja Thanuradan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shoaib Malik, Usman Shinwari, Maheesh Theekshana, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Theivendram Dinoshan, Ashan Randika, Krishan Sanjula, Avishka Fernando, Faf du Plessis.
Galle Gladiators: Danushka Gunathilaka, Isuru Udana, Angelo Jayasinghe, Mohammad Amir, Sarfraz Ahmed, Tabraiz Shamsi, Anwar Ali, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Ashan Daniel, Mohommed Shamaaz, Nuwan Thushara, Samit Patel, Suminda Lakshan, Pulina Tharanga, Kusal Mendis, Lahiru Madushanka, Dilshan Madushanka, Kevin Koththigoda, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Mohammad Hafeez