Lanka Premier League: Avishka, Gurbaz guide Jaffna Kings to 8-wicket win over Colombo Stars

Colombo [Sri Lanka], December 19 (ANI): Jaffna Kings beat Colombo Stars by 8 wickets in the first match at the R Premadasa Stadium here on Monday, in the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2022.

Batting first, Colombo Stars could only manage 128 on the scoreboard for the loss of 9 wickets.

Chasing the target, for Jaffna Kings, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Avishka Fernando opened the innings. The duo put up a mammoth 105-run partnership to set the platform for a comfortable win for the Kings. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 69 runs from 40 balls, which included 8 boundaries and 4 sixes, while Avishka remained unbeaten on 40 from 38 balls, which consisted of three boundaries.

For Colombo Stars, Dominic Drakes and Jeffrey Vandersay took 1 wicket each.

Earlier, after winning the toss, Jaffna Kings elected to bowl first. For Colombo Stars, Dinesh Chandimal and Captain Niroshan Dickwella opened the innings. Stars did not get off to a good start as both the openers were dismissed quickly.

Both the openers were dismissed for a duck as the team was struggling at 4/16 in 3.4 overs.

Nishan Madushka played a knock of 35 runs off 44 balls, which included 1 six. Towards the end of the innings, Dominic Drakes contributed with a quickfire 38 runs from 20 deliveries. His innings was laced with 4 boundaries and 2 sixes.

For Jaffna Kings, Shoaib Malik was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped 2/4 from his 2 overs, while Thisara Perera took 2/14 from 3 overs. Meanwhile, Zaman Khan, Asitha Fernando, Suminda Lakshan and Praveen Jayawickrama took 1 wicket each.

Gurbaz was named as the 'Man of the Match' for his half-century. (ANI)