Colombo, Dec 17 (IANS): The Galle Gladiators put up a brilliant display with the ball and skittled out Jaffna Kings for 109 runs after posting a total of 129/8 in their 20 overs in the Lanka Premier League on Friday. Shoaib Malik was the highest scorer for the Jaffna Kings with 23 runs from 27 balls as the Kings lost by 20 runs.
Mohammad Hafeez set the tone with the ball for the Gladiators with the wicket of Avishka Fernando in the fourth over and thereafter the Kings kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Samit Patel and Noor Ahmad were the most successful bowlers for the Gladiators with figures of 2-15 and 2-12 respectively.
Earlier, the Galle Gladiators also couldn't get going with the bat. They failed to string big partnerships and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Captain Bhanuka Rajapaksa was the highest scorer for the Gladiators with 23 runs from 25 balls.
Wahab Riaz, Praveen Jayawickrama, and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth were the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2-31, 2-13, and 2-21 respectively.
Brief scores
Galle Gladiators 129/8 in 20 overs (B Rajapaksa 23; Wahab Riaz 2-31, Praveen Jayawickrama 2-13, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 2-21) bt Jaffna Kings 109 all out in 18.3 overs (Shoaib Malik 23, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 21; Samit Patel 2-15, Noor Ahmad 2-12) by 20 runs.