Kandy Falcons, Jaffna Kings aim for one-two spot

Kandy Falcons and Jaffna Kings aim to finish one-two in the league table

• LPL-3 moves to Colombo for business end

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Afif Hossain from Bangladesh will bolster Jaffna Kings as replacement for Tom Kohler-Cadmore

The Lanka Premier League-3 (LPL-3) has reached the business end with the final round of league matches and the knockout games moving to Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium from today.  

Prime runners for the number one and two spots are Kandy Falcons who are heading the table and defending champions Jaffna Kings who are second. Colombo Kings following a late surge are occupying the number three spot followed by Galle Gladiators and Dambulla Aura.

With two consecutive wins over Jaffna in the league phase, Kandy have put themselves in the driving seat to have a tilt at the title which Jaffna are holding onto for the past two years. The first goal of these two teams is to finish in the top two which would see them play each other in Qualifier 1 which gives the losing team another chance to qualify for the final. 

The winner of Qualifier 1 will go straight into the LPL final, while the loser would not be out of contention, but will meet the winner of the Eliminator which is between the third and fourth placed teams in Qualifier 2. The loser of this Eliminator will get knocked out of the tournament. The winner of Qualifier 2 will meet the winner of Qualifier 1 in the final.

Kandy’s final two games are against Colombo (today) and Dambulla (tomorrow), which they are expected to win. If at all Kandy will receive any stiff resistance it will be from Colombo who after being shot out for 90 in the first match against Kandy, have shown vast improvement in their last three matches losing to Jaffna by six runs and then winning back to back games against Galle and Dambulla. 

Colombo have two tough matches to complete their league round with the final game on Monday against Jaffna. Nevertheless, even if they lose both they are still guaranteed of a place in the knockouts where the top four teams qualify.

“The performance of Kandy has been excellent, no one expected them to perform so well,” said team head coach Piyal Wijetunge. “When it comes to the play-offs you get two chances of making it to the final, so we are looking at finishing at either no. 1 or 2.”

Speaking of their two victories over Jaffna, Wijetunge said: “There is not much of a difference between the two sides, but on the day we did well and we had a plan and we executed it very well. If you take our eleven at least nine contribute, that has been the secret behind our success. Everyone is giving their 100 percent and enjoying the game.”

Kandy hope to make a few changes for their remaining two league matches to give some of the regular players a rest before the knockouts. “We have not made many changes to the team in the games played so far but I might make a few changes in the upcoming games to give some players a rest because they have been playing right throughout,” said Wijetunge. 

“The majority of players have played in all five games, so three or four of them might get a rest. I have about 22 in the squad so I have to try out the others as well. A few new players might play in the next two matches.”

Galle looks like the fourth team that will finish in the top four with Dambulla who are going through a torrid time without a single win unlikely to make the cut. Galle are currently fourth with four points and have three games in hand two of them against Dambulla (today and 19 December) and the other against Jaffna (tomorrow). According to Galle captain Kusal Mendis if they win two of the three matches they are assured of making it to the knockouts.

Dambulla’s chances of qualifying are pretty slim as they will need to win their last three matches against Galle (today and 19 December) and Kandy (tomorrow).

Jaffna in the meanwhile has secured the services of Bangladesh left-hand bat Afif Hossain as replacement for Tom Kohler-Cadmore who has been ruled out of the remaining matches after suffering from concussion during the opening game against Galle. 

Afif (23) made his T20I debut against Sri Lanka in 2018 and has appeared in 60 T20I for Bangladesh scoring over 1000 runs. He is likely to play in Jaffna’s remaining games. Jaffna complete the league phase with back to back matches against Galle (tomorrow) and Colombo (19 December).