Defending champions Jaffna Kings suffer back to back defeats

Kusal Perera of Dambulla Aura goes for a big drive

Shoaib Malik played a lone hand for Jaffna Kings with an unbeaten 74

• Dambulla Aura pull off win by nine runs

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Defending champions Jaffna Kings suffered back to back defeats on successive days when they went down by nine runs to Dambulla Aura in a low scoring Lanka Premier League game played under lights at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Chasing a moderate target of 135, Jaffna could manage only 125-7 with the damage to their top order batting being done by Pakistan fast bowling all-rounder Hasan Ali who ended with excellent figures of 3/20 off four overs.

Ali removed Jaffna’s two openers Charith Asalanka and Rahmanullah Gurbaz for eight in the third over and came back to break a threatening stand of 39 between Shoaib Malik and Dunith Wellalage, by bowling the latter for 16.

Malik playing his first match for Jaffna after arriving in Sri Lanka on Monday was left to play a lone hand finishing on a valiant 74* off 53 balls (5 fours, six sixes) as Dambulla defended their low total 134-8 with a superlative display on the field.  

Put into bat first Dambulla got off to a bad start losing openers Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis to self-inflicted dismissals to be 1-2 in the first over. Fernando was run out off the first ball and Mendis pulled a Maheesh Theekshana delivery to Malik at deep midwicket. Sadeera Samarawickrama (30) and Kusal Perera (41) put the innings on track with a stand of 51 but Jaffna broke through and kept picking up wickets regularly. They excelled in the field too accounting for two run outs and held onto the chances that came their way. However despite such a fine display their batting let them down.

Scores: Dambulla Aura 134-8 (20) (Sadeera Samarawickrama 30, Kusal Perera 41, Hayden Kerr 25*, Nuwan Thushara 2/26, Shoaib Malik 2/13)

Jaffna Kings 125-7 (20) (Shoaib Malik 74*, Hasan Ali 3/20)