(CMC) – West Indies rookie Test star Jayden Seales tasted success in his first ever overseas franchise tournament, when Jaffna Kings trounced Galle Gladiators by 23 runs to win the Lanka Premier League title yesterday.
Choosing to bat first at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Kings piled up a 200-plus total for the second time in three days, reaching 201 for three off their 20 overs.
Opener Avishka Fernando followed up his century on Tuesday with 63 off 41 balls while Englishman Tom Kohler-Cadmore struck an unbeaten 57 also off 41 deliveries and Afghan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, an 18-ball 35.
In reply, Gladiators were limited to 178 for nine off their 20 overs, with only Danushka Gunathilaka who hit 54 from 21 balls and fellow opener Kusal Mendis who made 39 from 28 balls, providing any resistance.
Left-arm spinner Chaturanga de Silva (2-15) and leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga (2-30) both claimed two wickets apiece while speedster Seales, who bowled the new ball, picked up one for 36 from his three overs.
The 20-year-old, who made his Test debut earlier this year as a teenager, finished the tournament with 15 wickets alongside veteran South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir, while 21-year-old off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana and left-arm spinner Samit Patel topped the charts with 16 wickets each.
Seeking their second straight title after their success last year under the name Jaffna Stallions, the Kings innings was defined by three partnerships.
Fernando belted eight fours and two sixes in a 56-run opening stand with Gurbaz before adding a further 63 for the second with Kohler-Cadmore.
Gurbaz blasted three fours and three sixes before perishing in the sixth over and Fernando had his stint ended in the 13th over, holing out to deep mid-wicket.
Kohler-Cadmore, who lashed two fours and three sixes, then put on 62 for the third wicket with Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik who punched a four and two sixes in an 11-ball 23.
Needing to score at nearly ten runs per over, Gladiators got away quickly, Gunathilaka slamming seven fours and three sixes and Mendis counting three fours and a six as they plundered 63 off 26 balls for the first wicket.
Seales started poorly, his first over and second of the innings leaking 16 runs while the second and sixth of the innings went for 14 runs.
Once Gunathilaka fell in the fifth over, however, Gladiators lost wickets steadily and thereafter, only Patel with 22 off 20 balls, managed to pass ten.
With Gladiators needing 44 from the last two overs, Seales was recalled to bowl the penultimate over and limited the damage to just 14 runs, leaving the last pair with the inevitable task of scoring 30 runs from the final over.
