Player of the Match
Player of the Match

END OF OVER:
20 | 24 Runs | JK: 125/7 (10 runs required, RR: 6.25)

  • Shoaib Malik74 (53b)
  • Maheesh Theekshana9 (11b)
  • Noor Ahmad4-0-46-1
  • Hayden Kerr4-0-21-1

And on that note, it's a wrap from us. Be sure to join us again tomorrow as the last of the matches in Kandy take place. But until then, on behalf of Fidel, this is Madushka saying goodnight!

Dambulla Aura skipper Kusal Mendis: "We were looking to bat first actually, but we weren't happy with the score despite it being a pretty good wicket. We thought we could have gotten about 170. I was very happy with the bowlers, defending such a score in T20s is very difficult."

Jaffna Kings skipper Thisara Perera: "As a bowling unit we can't expect more than this, but as a batting unit we can definitely expect more. Last two games we haven't been in the right path, but we need to come back stronger. [Under pressure?] Not yet, not yet."

Shoaib Malik gets the award for Striker of the Match

Okay time for the presentations...first up, the Player of the Match award goes to Hasan Ali: "We were thinking of putting up 160+ but as a bowling unit we thought if we believed in ourselves we could win this game. Just focused on bowling on a hard length. We had plans, luckily we got some early wickets and put them under pressure. The surface wasn't that easy though, ball wasn't coming on to the bat. Credit to Shoaib Malik though, he always makes it look easy. Unfortunately for him, they couldn't win."

Tauqeer: "S Malik is one of the best batter against spin even today and it's a pity that he is not part of international team , especially when the WC in India"

Anvith: "Wellalege's poor shot against Hasan Ali sealed this defeat. I wonder if Malik told him to see him out and go after someone else the following over. That ill judgement made things go from possible to nearly impossible. Hope he gets a stern talking too." --- Think there were far more things wrong with that innings than just Wellalage, Anvith.

Ifhaam: "Malik be like: I tried so hard and got so so far, but in the end, it doesn't even matter.... "

11.10pm So Shoaib Malik ends not out on a 53-ball 74, to go along with his 2 wickets earlier in the evening, but somehow Jaffna still failed to hunt down a target of 135. Aside from Malik, only Dunith Wellalage with 16 got into double digits. Hasan Ali was the pick of the bowlers for Dambulla with 3 for 20. The story of the game though was a combination of poor batting and quality fielding. Both sides in fact excelled in the field, with Dambulla probably edging affairs. And in the end this will now go down as the joint-second lowest total defended in the LPL. We will have the post-match presentation for you in a bit.

19.6
6
Noor Ahmad to Shoaib Malik, SIX, Out of the ground to finish! Slog swept over deep midwicket and it really is outta here. But no mind, Dambulla win by 9 runs!
19.5
4
Noor Ahmad to Shoaib Malik, FOUR, Cut past point! Four more but it's over now

Jaffna 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st7KIC AsalankaRahmanullah Gurbaz
2nd1Rahmanullah GurbazTowhid Hridoy
3rd2DA MillerRahmanullah Gurbaz
4th17Shoaib MalikDA Miller
5th39Shoaib MalikDN Wellalage
6th3Shoaib MalikNLTC Perera
7th3Shoaib MalikV Viyaskanth
8th53Shoaib MalikM Theekshana