That's all from this contest, folks! For now, it's me Deepak Prakash signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Hiren Kumar and scorer/analyst Raju Khariya. CHEERS!
David Wiese (Jaffna Titans Captain): "Yeah, things are going well for us at the moment. Everyone is playing beautifully and knows exactly what they need to do. It's great to see different players stepping up for the team consistently. We've got some good momentum going, but there's still a long way to go in this tournament, so we just need to keep pushing forward.
When you're playing nine or ten games in a row, it's always nice to have a day off. It gives the bowlers a chance to relax, recharge, and recover for the next game. I think it's definitely helped us a bit.
Yeah, I think for us, it's just about controlling what we can. We can't do anything about the weather, but we can control where we bowl and how we approach our batting. We just need to stick to our processes, stay positive, and hopefully, the result will go our way."
Player of the Match- Tom Abell
Power Hitter of the Match- Chamika Karunaratne
Catch of the Match- Dushan Hemantha
Game Flip Moment of the Match - Nuwan Thushara
Welcome to the presentations!
10:29 PM IST, Local Time: An emphatic win for Jaffna Titans as they drubbed Nuwara Eliya Kings by 53 runs, extending their winning streak to four matches. Poor batting display from the Kings, and they had to bear the brunt of it. With this win, the Jaffna Titans have qualified for the playoffs.
Earlier, after being invited to bat first, Jaffna Titans lost both their openers, Tom Kohler-Cadmore (7) and Kusal Mendis (9) cheaply in the second over. However, Charith Asalanka and Tom Abell took Nuwara Eliya Kings bowlers to the cleaners and smashed boundaries for fun. Abell was more aggressive among the duo and smashed fifty off just 19 balls. They added over 80 runs for the third wicket, setting the tempo for a mammoth total. Asalanka departed after a brisk 33 off 17 balls, while Abell played a pivotal knock, scoring 59 runs off just 24 deliveries. David Wiese (14*) and Dwaine Pretorius (16*) took charge of the finish, smashing 32 runs in the final two overs to help their team post an imposing 153/4 in 10 overs. Chamika Karunaratne bagged a couple of wickets for Nuwara Eliya Kings, while Dushan Hemantha and Kyle Mayers shared one wicket each. In pursuit of a massive 153 runs, Nuwara Eliya Kings lost both their openers, Avishka Fernando and Kyle Mayers, for golden ducks in the opening over, with Nuwan Thushara claiming both wickets. The situation worsened for the Kings as they continued to lose wickets in clusters, collapsing to 58/8. Chamika Karunaratne came out all guns blazing, entertaining with a flurry of strokes, but it was too little too late as the game was already out of reach. Karunaratne finished unbeaten on 58 runs off just 26 balls and he was the only batter to score in double digits for Nuwara Eliya Kings. Jaffna Titans bowlers kept the momentum going and restricted their opponent to 100/8 in 10 overs. Pramod Madushan topped the wicket chart, bagging 3 wickets. Nuwan Thushara and Dunith Wellalage chipped in with 2 wickets each, while Dwaine Pretorius contributed one wicket to the Kingsβ downfall.