Two in two for Kings with easy win over Dambulla

They may be without one of their biggest contributors from their two title-winning seasons, but the Jaffna Kings franchise made it two wins out of two with a nine-wicket win over Dambulla Aura in the Lanka Premier League at the Hambantota International Stadium yesterday.

While replacing Wanindu Hasaranga will be a near impossible task, the departure of the all-rounder to captain the Kandy Falcon’s franchise has meant a bigger role for Jaffna born leg spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, and yesterday he produced another good return taking 3 for 24 in 4 overs.

He would have been the Falcon’s best bowler had it not been for Maheesh Theekshana taking 3 for 20 in his quota, the spin duo doing a majority of the damage as Dambulla Aura were restricted to 121 for 9 in 20 overs.

An as crucial hand in the victory came from Sadeera Samarawickrama, who made an unbeaten half-century in the run chase, putting on a 118-run partnership with Avishka Fernando, himself a half-centurion in this innings, scoring 51 off 49 balls.

In their first outting under new ownership -- the third such owner in as many season of the LPL -- Englishman Jordan Cox gave the Dambulla franchise a positive start with 43 off 22 balls, before he was the first wicket to fall, to Viyaskanth, with the Aura's score on 60 in the eighth over.

Young opener Shevon Daniel was dismissed in the next over, caught off the bowling of Zahoor Khan for 19, and the innings failed to gain any traction, with the next best contribution of 18 from Bhanuka Rajapaksa.  The only batter to get double digits was Ramesh Mendis, who chipped in with 10, but with the rest of the batting not making an impact, the total at the end of 20 over did not reflect much of a challenge for the Kings. 

CHEIF Scores:
Dambulla Aura 121/9 in 20 overs (Jordan Cox 43, Maheesh Theekshana 3/20, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 3/24)
Jaffna Kings 122/1 (Sadeera Samarawickrama 62 n.o., Avishka Fernando 51)