Jaffna Kings ends Galle Marvels’ unbeaten run

 Rilee Roussouw powered Jaffna Kings to victory with 67 off 42 balls

• Becomes new table leaders

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

A brutal display of batting by New Zealander Tim Seifert who scored 104* off 63 balls failed to stop Jaffna Kings from inflicting on Galle Marvels their first defeat of the ongoing Lanka Premier League by five wickets at the Rangiri Dambulla Cricket Stadium yesterday.

The defeat saw Jaffna leapfrog over Galle to the top of the table. Both teams have the same number of points but Jaffna moved to top position on a better net run rate.

Chasing a hefty target of 188 Jaffna got there with two balls to spare with handy contributions right down their order, none so effective as the one made by South African Rilee Rossouw who powered his way to 67 off 42 balls (8 fours, 3 sixes) before falling in the 17th over to Zahoor Khan. Jaffna however got through thanks to a superb cameo from Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai who scored 35 off just 13 balls (4 fours, 2 sixes). With two wickets to boot, he took the Player of the Match award. Galle bowlers erred by bowling full and dishing out too many deliveries in the arc for Jaffna’s destructive batters, and paid dearly for it.   

Earlier, Galle finished their innings on a tremendous note with 66 runs coming off the last five overs. Seifert did the bulk of the damage to finish with 104* (12 fours, 6 sixes), his third hundred in all T20s. After a slow start - 38 off 31 at one stage, Seifert’s innings gained momentum as he tonked the bowlers all over the park to get to a well-deserved century. He got to his 50 off 41 balls and after that he was brutal on everything that was thrown at him. He became the first player to score a century for Galle and it was the first time in the history of the LPL two batsmen have made a hundred in one season. Kusal Perera scored a hundred for Dambulla Sixers on Wednesday.

TODAY’S MATCHES: Colombo Strikers v Kandy Falcons (3 p.m.), Dambulla Sixers v Jaffna Kings (7.30 p.m.)

Scores: Galle Marvels 187-5 (Alex Hales 23, Tim Seifert 104*, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 28, Azmatullah Omarzai 2/33)

Jaffna Kings 191-5 (19.4) (Kusal Mendis 30, Rilee Rossouw 67, Azmatullah Omarzai 35*, Zahoor Khan 2/33)