Colombo, Dec 11 (IANS): In a nail-biting contest, which went right down to the last bowl, Kandy Falcons beat defending champions Jaffna Kings by 3 wickets in the Lanka Premier League.

Batting first, the Jaffna Kings posted a competitive total of 147 for the loss of 7 wickets.

For Kandy Falcons, Pathum Nissanka and Andre Fletcher opened the innings. At 18, Zaman Khan dismissed Andre Fletcher for 11 runs from 11 balls. His innings was laced with 2 boundaries. Meanwhile, Pathum Nissanka scored 29 runs from 24 balls including 2 boundaries.

However, it was Ashen Bandara's 44 from 39 balls which helped the Kandy Falcons register a win. His innings was laced with 3 boundaries. He was well supported by Chamika Karunaratne, who made a quickfire 26 from 16 balls including 2 boundaries and 2 sixes.

For Jaffna Kings, Dunith Wellalage was the pick of the bowler as he scalped 2/17 from his 4 overs. Meanwhile, Maheesh, Zaman, James and Vijayakanth all took one wicket each.

Earlier, after winning the toss, Kandy Falcons elected to bowl first. For Jaffna Kings, Avishka Fernando was highest scorer with 31 runs from 26 ball.

His innings included 4 boundaries. Shoaib Malik and Dunith Wellalage pitched in with 28 and 20 runs respectively. For Kandy Falcons, Fabian Allen, Wanindu Hasaranga and Isuru Udana picked two wickets each.