Jaffna Stallions in 2020
# Jaffna Stallions in 2020

The Jaffna Stallions (abbreviated as JS) is a franchise cricket team which competed in inaugural season of Lanka Premier League (LPL). For the 2020 season, the team was captained by Thisara Perera and coached by Thilina Kandamby. The team qualified for the semi-finals after winning 4 out of 8 matches. However, the team had the highest run rate of all teams. They qualified for the final by defeating Dambulla Viiking in the semi-final. The team won the final by defeating the Galle Gladiators.

## Season summary

In the first game of their history, the Stallions faced the Galle Gladiators. The Gladiators never really got going aside from a quick-fire 58 runs off 23 balls by their captain Shahid Afridi. In response, the Stallions chased down the target of 175/8 made by the Gladiators with three balls to spare winning the match by 8 wickets. In Game 2, a captain's innings from Thisara Perera helped propel the Stallions to 217/8 from their 20 overs against Dambulla Viiking's. In the Viiking innings, Pakistani bowler Usman Shinwari took three wickets to give the Stallions their second win of the season.

Perera was involved once again in the Stallions' third game. He scored 68 runs off 28 balls to get the Stallions to 185/8. Usman Shinwari was once again the pick of the bowlers, this time with 3/17 to hand the Stallions their third successive win. In Game 4, the Stallions beat the Gladiators a second time. This win was largely due to the Stallions opener, Avishka Fernando who scored 84 runs off 59 balls and hit five 6's. This meant that the Stallions were still unbeaten in the tournament after playing four games.

Game 5 of the Stallions' season came against the Colombo Kings. Jaffna scored 148/9 from their 20 overs, with Wanindu Hasaranga top-scoring with 41 runs. In response, the target was chased down by the Colombo Kings with six wickets to spare. This was the Stallions' first loss of the season. Unfortunately for the Stallions, their sixth game was washed out. However, they stayed at the top of the table on the basis of a superior net run rate. Two days later, they played their penultimate game of the league stage against the Kandy Tuskers. They were bowled out for 150 runs, with Shoaib Malik top-scoring with 59 runs. They could not replicate the Tuskers with the ball, losing the game by 6 wickets.

The last match of the group stage for the Stallions was against the Kings. Batting first, the Kings scored 173/4 largely due to Laurie Evans, who scored the first-ever Lanka Premier League hundred. In response, the Stallions could only score 167/6 from their 20 overs, losing their third successive game. However, they still qualified for the semi-finals in third place.

In the semi-final, they defeated Dambulla Viiking with a margin of 37 runs.

The team opposed Galle Gladiators in the final. The Stallions won the toss and elected to bat. Pakistani skilled cricketer Shoaib Malik thumped 46 runs off 35 balls, Thisara Perera scored quick fire 39 runs off 14 balls and the team set the target of 189 runs. The Gladiators' performance in the match deteriorated, however, as skipper Dhananjaya Lakshan hammered 40 runs off 17 balls and Pakistani cricketer Azam Khan scored 36 runs off 17 balls. The tournament ceased with the Stallions winning their first inaugural Lanka Premier League season after recording a comprehensive 53-run win over the Gladiators.

## Squad

* Players with international caps are listed in bold
* Ages given as of 26 November 2020, the date the first match was played in the tournament

| | No. | Name | Nationality | Date of birth (aged) | Batting style | Bowling style |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Batsmen |||||||
| 28 | Avishka Fernando | Sri Lanka | (1998-04-05)5 April 1998 (aged 22) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | |
| 29 | Dawid Malan | England | (1987-09-03)3 September 1987 (aged 33) | Left-handed | Right-arm legbreak | Marquee overseas player |
| 45 | Asif Ali | Pakistan | (1991-10-01)1 October 1991 (aged 29) | Right-handed | Right-arm offbreak | Overseas |
| 23 | Nuwanidu Fernando | Sri Lanka | (1999-10-13)13 October 1999 (aged 21) | Right-handed | Right-arm offbreak | |
| All-rounders |||||||
| 1 | Thisara Perera | Sri Lanka | (1989-04-03)3 April 1989 (aged 31) | Left-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | Captain, Icon player |
| 75 | Dhananjaya de Silva | Sri Lanka | (1991-09-06)6 September 1991 (aged 29) | Right-handed | Right-arm offbreak | |
| 13 | Wanindu Hasaranga | Sri Lanka | (1997-07-29)29 July 1997 (aged 23) | Right-handed | Legbreak | |
| 18 | Shoaib Malik | Pakistan | (1982-02-01)1 February 1982 (aged 38) | Right-handed | Right-arm offbreak | Overseas |
| 10 | Ravi Bopara | England | (1985-05-04)4 May 1985 (aged 35) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Overseas |
| 14 | Charith Asalanka | Sri Lanka | (1997-06-29)29 June 1997 (aged 23) | Left-handed | right-arm offspin | |
| N/A | Theivendiram Dinoshan | Sri Lanka | (2002-03-26)26 March 2002 (aged 18) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | |
| Wicket-keepers |||||||
| 18 | Minod Bhanuka | Sri Lanka | (1995-04-29)29 April 1995 (aged 25) | Left-handed | — | |
| 50 | Chaturanga de Silva | Sri Lanka | (1990-01-17)17 January 1990 (aged 30) | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
| 25 | Johnson Charles | West Indies | (1989-01-14)14 January 1989 (aged 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | Overseas |
| 23 | Tom Moores | England | (1996-09-04)4 September 1996 (aged 24) | Left-handed | — | Overseas |
| Bowlers |||||||
| 82 | Suranga Lakmal | Sri Lanka | (1987-03-10)10 March 1987 (aged 33) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | |
| N/A | Binura Fernando | Sri Lanka | (1995-07-12)12 July 1995 (aged 25) | Right-handed | Left-arm medium-fast | |
| N/A | Prabath Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka | (1991-11-05)5 November 1991 (aged 29) | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
| 14 | Usman Shinwari | Pakistan | (1994-01-05)5 January 1994 (aged 26) | Right-handed | Left-arm fast-medium | Overseas |
| 87 | Kyle Abbott | South Africa | (1987-06-18)18 June 1987 (aged 33) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | Overseas |
| 74 | Duanne Olivier | South Africa | (1992-05-09)9 May 1992 (aged 28) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | Overseas |
| N/A | Maheesh Theekshana | Sri Lanka | (2000-01-01)1 January 2000 (aged 20) | Right-handed | Right-arm offbreak | |
| N/A | Kanagarathinam Kabilraj | Sri Lanka | (1999-07-12)12 July 1999 (aged 21) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | |
| N/A | Vijayakanth Viyaskanth | Sri Lanka | (2001-12-05)5 December 2001 (aged 18) | Right-handed | Legbreak | |
| N/A | Sebastianpillai Vijeyaraj | Sri Lanka | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | |

* Sources

## Administration and support staff

| Position | Name |
| - | - |
| CEO | Anandan Arnold |
| Mentor | Hemang Badani |
| Head coach | Thilina Kandamby |
| Fast bowling coach | Mario Villavarayan |
| Spin bowling coach | Sachith Pathirana |
| Fielding coach | Vimukthi Deshapriya |

## Season standings

### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Colombo Kings | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0.448 |
| 2 | Dambulla Viiking | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 | −0.087 |
| 3 | Jaffna Stallions (C) | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 0.788 |
| 4 | Galle Gladiators (R) | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | −0.203 |
| 5 | Kandy Tuskers | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | −0.890 |

* The top four teams qualified for the playoffs
* Advanced to semifinals

### Matches

denotes the winning team. denotes the losing team. denotes no result. :

| Date | Opponent | Toss | Result | Man of the match | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 27 November | Galle Gladiators | Galle Gladiators elected to bat | Jaffna Stallions won by 8 runs | Avishka Fernando | |
| 30 November | Dambulla Viiking | Dambulla Viiking elected to field | Jaffna Stallions won by 66 runs | Thisara Perera | |
| 1 December | Kandy Tuskers | Jaffna Stallions elected to bat | Jaffna Stallions won by 54 runs | Thisara Perera | |
| 3 December | Galle Gladiators | Galle Gladiators elected to bat | JS won by 5 wickets | Avishka Fernando | |
| 4 December | Colombo Kings | Colombo Kings elected to field | Colombo Kings won by 6 wickets | Dinesh Chandimal | |
| 7 December | Dambulla Viiking | Jaffna Stallions elected to field | Cancelled due to rain | Cancelled due to rain | Cancelled due to rain |
| 9 December | Kandy Tuskers | Jaffna Stallions elected to bat | Kandy Tuskers won by 6 wickets | Asela Gunaratne | |
| 10 December | Colombo Kings | Jaffna Stallions elected to field | Colombo Kings won by 6 runs | Laurie Evans | |
| 14 Dec | Dambulla Viiking | Dambulla the elected to field | Jaffna Stallions won by 37 runs | Johnson Charles | Won the semi-final |
| 16 Dec | Galle Gladiators | Jaffna Stallions elected to bat | Jaffna Stallions won by 53 runs | Shoaib Malik | Won the final |

## Statistics

### Most runs

* indicates a player who remained not out. :

| Batsman | Matches | Runs | Highest score |
| - | - | - | - |
| Avishka Fernando | 9 | 275 | 92* |
| Thisara Perera | 10 | 261 | 97* |
| Shoaib Malik | 10 | 203 | 59 |
| Johnson Charles | 6 | 134 | 76 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 10 | 127 | 41 |

### Most wickets

Notation 2/12 denotes 2 wickets obtained by 12 runs. :

| Bowler | Matches | Wickets | Best bowling |
| - | - | - | - |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 10 | 17 | 3/15 |
| Duanne Olivier | 9 | 10 | 4/44 |
| Usman Shinwari | 7 | 9 | 3/16 |
| Suranga Lakmal | 7 | 8 | 2/27 |
| Thisara Perera | 10 | 5 | 2/9 |

## Awards and achievements

| Date | Award | Player | Opponent | Result | Contribution |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 27 November | Man of the Match | Avishka Fernando | Galle Gladiators | Won by 8 runs | 92* (63) |
| 30 November | Man of the Match | Thisara Perera | Dambulla Viiking | Won by 66 runs | 97* (44) |
| 1 December | Man of the Match | Thisara Perera | Kandy Tuskers | Won by 54 runs | 68 (28) |
| 3 December | Man of the Match | Avishka Fernando | Galle Gladiators | Won by 5 wickets | 84 (59) |
| 14 December | Man of the Match | Johnson Charles | Dambulla Viiking | Won by 37 runs | 76 (56) |
| 16 December | Man of the Match | Shoaib Malik | Galle Gladiators | Won by 53 runs | 46 (35) |
