COLOMBO: Dwaine Pretorius’ four-wicket haul, followed by half-centuries from Janith Liyanage and Tim Seifert, led Galle Marvels to thump Jaffna Kings and qualify for the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2024 final.
Set to chase 178, the Marvels knocked the winning runs in style when Seifert smashed Tabraiz Shamsi for a six on the first delivery of the penultimate over.
Seifert oversaw the Marvels’ pursuit with an unbeaten half-century after coming out to bat at No.3 with the scoreboard reading 29/1 in 2.2 overs.
He was involved in a quickfire 41-run partnership for the second wicket, majorly dominated by Alex Hales, who departed in the sixth over after scoring 36 off 21 deliveries.
Tim Seifert then joined forces with Janith Liyanage and the duo combined to put Marvels in touching distance.
Seifert and Liyanage added 92 runs amid their third-wicket partnership until the latter perished in the 17th over.
Liyanage smashed five fours and three sixes on his way to a 36-ball 56.
Seifert, on the other hand, carried his bat all the through and returned with an unbeaten 62 off 41 balls, laced up with 10 boundaries including a six.
For the Kings, Azmatullah Omarzai, Fabian Allen and Shamsi made one scalp each.
Put into bat first, the Kings registered a commendable total of 177/7 in the allotted overs with Avishka Fernando leading the charge with a half-century.
Fernando top-scored for the Kings in the LPL 2024 Qualifier 1 with a 33-ball 52 which featured four fours and three sixes.
Besides him, wicketkeeper batter Kusal Mendis (46) and South Africa international Rilee Rossouw (40) made notable contributions while Omarzai remained the only other batter to amass the double digits, scoring 14 off eight.
Dwaine Pretorius was the star with the ball for Galle Marvels with brilliant figures of 4/23, followed by Isuru Udana, who bagged two wickets.
Despite succumbing to a defeat, Jaffna Kings will have another chance to make it to the LPL 2024 final as they will face the winner of the Eliminator between Kandy Falcons and Colombo Strikers in the Qualifier 2 on Saturday.
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