12:00 AM IST, Local Time: As a new day dawns upon us, Jaffna Kings still have a long night of celebrations ahead of them! Congratulations to them on being crowned the LPL Champions for the 4th time! That's it from Lanka Premier League's 5th season!
Join us back tomorrow as we bring you all the cricketing action LIVE from around the world! Until then, I am Anirudh Modi, signing off along with my co-commentator AkshayaKrishna Polya, and our scorers/analysts Raju Khariya, Zeeshan Naiyer, and Paras Yadav! See you on the next one!
Charith Asalanka collects the LPL Trophy from the honourable minister Harin Fernando and ICC chairman Greg Barclay. Asalanka is struggling to carry the big silverware. Gets some help from Fabian Allen as the West Indies hands it over to the rest of the teammates, who are ready for the celebration standing behind the Champions board. The party begins and will go on for ever!
Charith Asalanka (Jaffna Kings' Captain):"It's amazing that I am lifting the trophy on my first try as a captain. It's all about professional individual performances, I think my players looked after themselves and recovered quickly according to the conditions.
I am speechless by their batting performance, especially after losing a first ball wicket, they were outstanding.
Just one thing, I would like to thank our fans for all their support and cheers through the tournament. It would not have been possible without them."
Jaffna Kings' skipper Charith Asalanka walks up to receive the prize money on behalf of his team. The entire team follows him to collect their winners' medals!
Niroshan Dickwella (Galle Marvels Captain): "First of all, it was a great campaign for us over the past 21 days. Really proud of the boys.
After losing the toss, I actually didn't mind batting first. We probably did not read the wicket well. They bowled well initially. Credit goes to Bhanuka Rajapaksa.
With the ball, it was a disaster. There was a 45-minute innings break. With dew settling in during the second innings, the batting became easy.
I want to thank the coaches, franchise owners, support staff, IPG group, and SLC for the great tournament."
The Galle Marvels are presented with their runners-up medals! Niroshan Dickwella receives the prize money on behalf of his team.
Rilee Rossouw (Player of the tournament):"Not much to talk, I just played one ball at a time. Credit to Kusal, he played a great knock as well. 100 percent (on whether his altercation with Bhanuka Rajapaksa ignited a fire in him). People who know me, don't abuse me. It makes it interesting, entertaining. And hopefully, that spurs the rest of the boys on. It just puts me more in the zone and I'm thankful that it came off today.
Winning the tournament is what we came here to do and just working on the winning formula. Records are meant to broken so I guess it will be broken next year."
Player of the Tournament: Rilee Rossouw (389 Runs), 1st player to hit two hundreds in one LPL season and 1st player to score a century in the final.
Emerging Player of the Tournament: Chamindu Wickramasinghe
Highest wicket-taker of the Tournament (Red Cap): Shadab Khan (17 wickets)