By Himadullah Sohoo 
Niroshan Dickwella’s 34-ball cameo of 58 runs could not stop the Jaffna Kings from winning the inaugural fixture of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) by 21 runs. The Kings posted a total of 173-5, thanks to contributions from Towhid Hridoy (54) and Dunith Wellalage (25*). The Strikers were never really in the chase, despite Dickwella’s best efforts. They finished on 152 all out, with Hardus Viljoen taking 3-31.
Brief Scores of Jaffna Kings vs Colombo Strikers:
Jaffna Kings 173/5 (20 Overs) RR:8.65
(Towhid Hridoy 54, Dunith Wellalage n.o. 25,, Priyamal Perera 22, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 21, Nishan Madushka 12, Charith Asalanka 12, Thisara Perera n.o. 14 7 3, Naseem Shah 1/30, Matheesha Pathirana 1/32, Lakshan Sandakan 1/34, Chamika Karunaratne 1/36)
Colombo Strikers 152 (19.4 Overs) RR: 7.2
(Niroshan Dickwella 58, Nuwanidu Fernando 17, Yashodha Lanka 11, Ramesh Mendis 17, Chamika Karunaratne 23, Hardus Viljoen 3/31, Dilshan Madushanka 2/18, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 2/17, Thisara Perera 1/29)
The Player of the Match was Vijayaskanth Viyaskanth for his two wickets plus two catches.
Jaffna Kings won by 21 runs
Venue: R. Premadasa International Stadium
Zainab Shafiq