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Jaffna Kings (JK) will clash against Colombo Stars (CS) in the final of the Lanka Premier League 2022 at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday (December 23). Jaffna Kings won the tournament’s last edition and finished this season’s group stages in the second position with six wins from eight matches. They beat group leaders Kandy Falcons by 24 runs on the D/L method in Qualifier 1 fixture to book their place in the final. Carlos Brathwaite, the current leading wicket-taker in the tournament, took two wickets to win the player of the match award against the Falcons.
Colombo Stars finished the group-stage round in the third position with just three wins from eight matches. But they managed to overcome a challenge from Galle Gladiators in the Eliminator clash with a seven-wicket win and then surprisingly beat the Falcons in the Qualifier 2 clash by six wickets. Charith Asalanka smashed 64 runs off 40 balls while chasing a big 169-run target with seven balls remaining to qualify for the final. Jaffna Kings have won four of their last five matches against Colombo Stars and are favorites to win this fixture as well.
Match Details:
Venue: R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Date & Time: December 23, 07:30 PM IST
Telecast & Live Streaming: Sony Sports Network & SonyLiv
Pitch Report:
The pitch at Colombo’s R Premadasa Stadium offers good help for the bowlers with an average first innings score of 147 runs. Teams have won all five last matches while chasing, including the last match where Colombo easily managed to chase the 169-run target. So winning the toss will be a big factor in the final match of this season.
Probable Playing XI for JK vs CS:
Jaffna Kings:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Avishka Fernando, Afif Hossain, Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Dunith Wellalage, Shoaib Malik, Thisara Perera, Zaman Khan, Binura Fernando, Maheesh Theekshana, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth.
Colombo Stars:
Nishan Madushka (wk), Dinesh Chandimal, Charith Asalanka, Ravi Bopara, Angelo Mathews (c), Benny Howell, Seekkuge Prasanna, Mohammad Nabi, Dominic Drakes, Kasun Rajitha, Suranga Lakmal.
Probable Best Performers from JK vs CS:
Probable best batter: Avishka Fernando
The 24-year-old batter scored 21 runs off just 11 balls against Kandy Falcons in the Qualifier 1 fixture and is leading the scoring chart in the tournament with 289 runs from just nine innings at an average of 36.12 and a strike rate of 126.20 with the help of two fifties this season. He was the second-highest leading run-scorer in LPL 2021 and also won the player of the tournament award.
Probable best bowler: Kasun Rajitha
The experienced right-arm pacer bowled a match-winning spell against Kandy Falcons in Qualifier 2 by taking four wickets while conceding just 20 runs. He is the only bowler for Colombo Stars, who has taken 10-plus wickets this season, 12 wickets from just seven innings at an impressive economy rate of 6.04.
Today’s Match Prediction: Jaffna Kings to win the match
