LPL experiences cricket’s changing fortunes

• Teams return to Colombo for final leg

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

That cricket is a game of changing fortunes there is no doubt. It was quite prevalent during the second leg of matches of the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL) played in Kandy at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

When the five teams moved from Colombo’s R. Premadasa Cricket Stadium to Pallekele at the end of the first leg, Galle Titans were the pacesetters with two wins out of two and on top of the table and, B-Love Kandy, the wooden spoonists at the bottom of the pile with two back to back defeats. When the teams returned after the Kandy leg, the fortunes had changed drastically with B-Love Kandy taking over the leadership winning all three matches played on their home ground, and Galle losing their three games to plummet to the bottom. Such are the intricacies that cricket offers, the tournament at its halfway mark has all five teams still in contention to qualify for the knockout stage.

Galle maybe at the bottom of the table but they are equal on points (4) with fourth placed Colombo Strikers with only net run rate separating them. Similarly, at the top B-Love Kandy and Dambulla Aura are equal on points (6) with net run rate once again making the difference. All four teams have played five games apiece and have three more to play – when the third and final leg moves to Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium – to stake their claims to be in the knockout.

Defending champions Jaffna Kings, currently placed third have a fight on their hands to finish within the first four to qualify. They have played one match more than the rest of the teams and have only two games in hand which they must win against B-Love Kandy and Galle Titans to be in the reckoning.

Jaffna has been the most dominant team in the competition’s three-year history winning all three titles in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Other than in the first season Jaffna has not suffered more than three losses in the league stage. Their present record stands at three wins and three losses and they cannot afford another loss at any stage. They have lost twice to Dambulla and once to Kandy – on all three occasions their batting has been the cause.

The five teams at this year’s tournament are equally matched and this is evident by the fact that so far none of them have been able to take a clear cut lead in the points table.

Kandy, after a slow beginning looks to be peaking at the right time with their captain Wanindu Hasaranga leading the way with both bat and ball. Hasaranga has been devastating with the bat and quite effective with the ball as well taking over the mantle as the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with eight wickets and being the proud owner of the Orange Cap. 

Not far behind are Dambulla Aura led by Kusal Mendis with quite a number of match-winners in their side. Their top five batsmen are all Sri Lankan players – Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kusal Perera and Dhananjaya de Silva. Former Sri Lanka U19 World Cup captain Dunith Wellalage has been the shining star for Jaffna who’s batting has been strengthened by the return of David Miller and Shoaib Malik. For Colombo, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam stands head and shoulders above in the batting being the only centurion in the tournament so far and the current holder of the Green Cap as the leading run-scorer with 235 runs (avg. 47.00). Galle’s batting has been held together by openers Lasith Croospulle and Shevon Daniel and Tim Seifert, but big contributions are overdue from Bhanuka Rajapaksa, captain Dasun Shanaka and Shakib Al Hasan to keep them in contention.