Kandy vs Jaffna, Eliminator at Colombo, LPL, Aug 17 2023 - Ball by Ball Commentary

11.20pm So there it is, the Lanka Premier League will have a new champion this year! Three-time winners Jaffna Kings are knocked out. Chasing 189 was always going to be a challenge, but with one of the Kandy bowlers out injured early, they would have backed themselves. But Asalanka was out early to Mujeeb and then Gurbaz looked threatening but was run out. And after that Hasaranga took over. He got Chris Lynn and Wellalage in his first over, right after the powerplay. Miller and Malik put on a fifty-plus stand but Hasaranga broke that partnership open as well by cleaning Miller up and then trapping Gunaratne lbw in the same over. Arachchige chipped in with Perera's wicket, for a duck, before Pradeep removed the set Malik. Hasaranga returned to complete the job with a third double-wicket over to return his best ever figures in the tournament's history. Now Kandy, albeit depleted, will take on Galle Titans in Qualifier 2 on Saturday. Earlier in the day, Dambulla Aura beat the Titans to reach their first final. A fascinatin day of cricket in the LPL today. Join us again on Saturday. For now, it's Abhimanyu signing off on behalf of Madushka Balasuriya and Harshith Gowda.

11.10pm Time for the presentation ceremony

The winning captain Hasaranga: "We all know Jaffna, they are champions last three years and the players, but our boys played really good cricket. Of course, we haven't played Dushmantha today because he was injured and Isuru Udana also got injured and I finished Mujeeb in 10-11 overs but I believed in myself. Everyday I try to do the basic things. [On the googly] That's my weapon. I got a lot of wickets with my wrong'un and I back it. I think Isuru is also out of the tournament. [On Pradeep] I don't know, we played a lot of back-to-back games. We can't play cricket like that and I hope next time they will schedule it little better."

Thisara Perera: "It's a bad day, the kind of batting lineup we have we think we can chase around 180 but it was a bad day. But I am really proud of my team we won three in a row. Hopefully we can bounce back next year. [On picking an extra bowler] If we're chasing an extra batter is a good option but we didn't click as a batting unit. We didn't have any memorable match or incident this year, so that was the issue. But as a team we did a nice job. We have to take it, win or lose."

Wanindu Hasaranga pips Mohammad Haris to the Player-of-the-Match award.

Marin: "The good news for SLC is that Theekshana and Hasaranga continue to look poised to be the 2 front-line spinners for the next decade, fingers crossed"

11pm A thumping win sees B-Love Kandy book a date with Galle Titans in Qualifier 2. Chandimal gave them the initial momentum with the bat, Haris took over when he fell and hit a brilliant 79. And then it was all about Wanindu Hasaranga, who picked up his first five-wicket haul in the Lanka Premier League. Twenty balls bowled, six wickets taken and just nine runs given away as Jaffna Kings are blown away for 127, 61 runs short of Kandy's total. Injuries to Isuru Udana, who could bowl just the one over today, and Nuwan Pradeep, who hobbled his way through his third over and still managed to get Shoaib Malik's wicket, will concern Kandy with another crucial knockout match on Saturday coming up. But they will probably celebrate tonight and think about that tomorrow. Hang around for the presentation ceremony.

Nuwan Thushara, Jaffna Kings' hero with the ball, is their last batter

Hasaranga for his last over. Will he get wicket No. 5?

Pradeep fell to the ground again after bowling. But gets up and walks away. Gets a kudos from his skipper. He really did a job in that last over, battling injury to get the last big wicket!

Dilshan Madushanka is Jaffna King's No. 10

Pradeep is back up and has the ball in hand again, although he doesn't look his best right now

Pradeep is now looking in some discomfort. Hasaranga comes in towards him, with worry written all over his face. Pradeep is getting some treatment now with the physio on. Kandy may end up two death bowlers down heading into the death overs!

68 needed off the last four. Can Malik and Theekshana (and whoever comes after them) do the impossible? Nuwan Pradeep for his third over

And time for another strategic timeout

Angelo Mathews back into the attack. Udana's injury means Hasaranga has to use Mathews

A moment of worry for Kandy as Pradeep is on the ground, but it's only momentary. He is back up and looks fine

Ijaz Ur Rehman: "Another day another Shoaib Malik 50 in a losing cause." He has some way to go to get there, Ijaz

Will Hasaranga go for the kill now and bowl out? Nope, it's Pradeep for now