Compared to other T20 franchise leagues, the Lanka Premier League (LPL) is a short and sweet tournament and this edition too was scheduled between 5-23 Dec 2021, with five regional teams battling it out. And after nearly three weeks of fun in Colombo and Hambantota, a winner was declared yesterday.
We’re not too surprised that it was Jaffna Kings who ended on the victorious side of things, because they were brilliant right through the tournament, and were deserving winners eventually. In the LPL 2021 finals, they put up 200+ and it was the third time in the season they reached that landmark, which shows that consistency is possible even in the shortest format of the game.
Things went well for them right from the start as they won the toss on the final and batted first. In their batting innings also, everything went well as they got off to a great start and that start was built upon, with a good acceleration coming at the end too. It was Avishka Fernando who top scored with 63 while Tom Kohler Cadmore also got an unbeaten fifty.
With the ball, it was a poor effort by Galle Gladiators and moreso in the field, as they put down a few chances. You know you’re not going to win if you’re letting off batsmen with extras and dropped catches. And Gladiators slipped when most important, with Samit Patel, Nuwan Thushara and Mohammad Amir picking up a wicket each as Kings put up 201/3 in their 20 overs.
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When the chase began, we thought we were in for a brilliant final as Danushka Gunathilaka brought up one of the best fifties of the season. Gladiators were going all guns blazing and at a run rate of 15+ when he was batting. However, everything went downhill when he was dismissed for 54(21) and while the runs kept coming, the wickets kept tumbling too.
Jaffna wins second LPL title
Destructor-in-chief was once again Wanindu Hasaranga who came in and bagged a couple of wickets in his first over as well, putting a brake on the Gladiators charge. And then, it became too much of a task for the middle and lower order as they were restricted to 178/9, falling short in the LPL 2021 final by 23 runs.
Another T20 title for Shoaib Malik as his 23 runs off 11 balls and 0/12 in 3 overs helps Jaffna Kings beat Galle Gladiators by 23 runs in the Lanka Premier League Final #Cricket #LPLT20 pic.twitter.com/ioAVVuYKIc
— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) December 23, 2021
Last season, it was Jaffna Stallions who went on to win LPL 2020 and this year, despite the name change, the franchise has gone on to win again, getting successive LPL titles and staying the most successful team in the history of this tournament, with only two editions done so far. Avishka Fernando was awarded the Man of the Match as well as the Man of the Series for his fifty in the final and 300+ runs in the season.
Lanka Premier League is the first men's T20 competition that began with the same finalists in its first 2 editions.
2020 final – Jaffna Kings v Galle Gladiators
2021 final – Jaffna Kings v Galle Gladiatiors#LPL2021— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) December 23, 2021
With the ball, Samit Patel and Maheesh Theekshana topped the charts with 16 scalps in 10 games each in LPL 2021. For more updates on similar cricketing news from around the world, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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