PALLEKELE: Shoaib Malik’s late fireworks went in vain as Hasan Ali ran through Jaffna Kings’ batting line-up to guide Dambulla Aura to a thrilling nine-run win over Jaffna Kings in the 11th match of the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL) on Monday.
Dambulla Aura jumped to the top of the table in the ongoing LPL, after they defended the joint-second lowest total in the LPL history.
Requiring 34 off the last over of Afghanistan prodigy Noor Ahmed, Jaffna Kings had their hopes alive with Shoaib Malik on the crease.
He started the over on a high, hitting two sixes, but the young bowler held on to his nerves and bowled two dot balls to seal the deal for his team.
Malik however hit a boundary and a six off the last two balls but the game was already over by then, as Dambulla Aura won by 9 runs.
He waged a lone battle against Aura’s bowlers, scoring more than half of his team’s total of 125.
Shoaib Malik’s innings of 74 off 56 balls was laced with five boundaries and six sixes. Besides Malik, only Dunith Wellalage (16) managed to reach double figures.
After winning the toss, Jaffna Kings put Dambulla Aura into bat, and they got off to a flying start as the first over of Maheesh Theekshana saw both openers going back to the pavilion.
Avishka Fernando ran himself out on the first delivery, while Kusal Mendis holed one straight to Malik at deep midwicket.
Sadeera Samarawickrama and Kusal Perera knitted a formidable partnership of 51 runs for Dambulla Aura before the former was castled by Dunith Wellalage. Samarawickrama’s anchoring 30 off 25 featured four boundaries.
Dhananjaya de Silva (4) joined Perera but was soon bowled by Malik with just 69 on the board in the 11th over.
Perera then attempted to shift gears and take on Malik with a reverse sweep but missed the length ball and was cleaned up.
Subsequently, no batter posed any real threat to Jaffna Kings except Hayden Kerr, who scored 25 off 20 at the backend to guide his team to a modest total of 134.
Shoaib Malik and Nuwan Thushara picked two wickets each for the Kings, while Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage managed one apiece.
Jaffna Kings started the chase in contrast to their brilliant bowling performance as they were reduced to 10-3 in four overs.
Hasan Ali removed opening batters Rahmanullah Gurbaz (3) and Charith Asalanka (5), whereas Towhid Hridoy perished for a first-ball duck off Binura Fernando.
David Miller was then involved in a brief 17-run partnership with Malik until chipping one straight to the bowler, Hayden Kerr and left the Kings reeling at 27/4 just after the powerplay.
Malik then formed a crucial partnership for the Kings when he added 39 runs for the fifth wicket with Dunith Wellalage before Hasan Ali came back into the attack and crashed the top of Wellalage’s off-stump.
With the Kings in heaps of trouble after losing wickets at regular intervals, Shoaib Malik batted cautiously in the middle phase and the required run rate kept rising.
With the Kings requiring 50 off 18 deliveries, Shoaib Malik finally shifted gears in the 18th over, as he hit 10 runs off Hasan Ali to bring up his fifty in 44 balls.
However, Malik’s heroics came a touch too late as the Kings fell just nine runs short of pulling a miraculous victory.
Defending champions Jaffna Kings are now placed at the fourth spot in the LPL standings and will face Colombo Strikers in the next game on Tuesday, while table-toppers Dambulla Aura will face second-positioned Galle Titans on Wednesday.
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