Harper and Asalanka put on 126, and Galle get a fourth go at Jaffna in the LPL final

Galle Gallants get a fourth crack at Jaffna Kings this season, and this one is for the trophy. Sam Harper made 77 at the R Premadasa Stadium on Friday night, Charith Asalanka 59, and their stand of 126 carried Galle past Colombo Kaps by six wickets in Qualifier 2 with eight balls to spare.

Colombo Kaps were 20 for 3 before the field spread

Kamindu Mendis won the toss and batted, and it looked like the wrong call inside three overs. Mohammad Nawaz trapped Sadeera Samarawickrama lbw in the second, Asalanka bowled Thanuka Dabare in the third, and Mendis edged Asalanka behind for 1 four balls later.

Janith Liyanage swung 23 off nine balls and then chipped a return catch to Akif Javed. James Neesham lasted three deliveries. Colombo were 52 for 5 a ball into the seventh over, which left Rubin Hermann and Ravindu Fernando to rebuild in the middle overs. They put on 70 in a hurry, Fernando taking the risks with five sixes in a 27-ball 48, Hermann working the gaps for 45 off 33.

Fernando’s dismissal in the 14th over, caught off Sachindu Colombage, took the momentum with it. Malsha Tharupathi added 28 from 17, Hermann was run out by an Eshan Malinga throw in the 17th, and Colombo were bowled out for 176 with seven balls of their innings unused. All six Galle bowlers picked up a wicket, Asalanka and Colombage two apiece.

Harper and Asalanka made 177 look like a formality

Mujeeb Ur Rahman had Thomas Rogers caught behind in the third over. Nothing else went right for Colombo after that. Harper reached fifty off 31 balls, Asalanka off 36, and the second-wicket partnership ran to 126 from 85 deliveries before it broke in the 17th over.

Asalanka went for 59 off 42 with four sixes, caught by Mendis off Tharupathi, and Harper holed out to long-on for 77 off 51 with 22 still needed. Galle had enough hitting left. Chamika Karunaratne struck a four and a six in a five-ball 10, and Dasun Shanaka and Sahan Arachchige knocked off the rest to finish on 177 for 4 in 18.4 overs.

Fernando’s 2 for 44 was the pick of a bowling attack that had little to defend. Colombo, who had beaten Kandy Royals by 68 runs in Wednesday’s Eliminator, go home. Harper took the player of the match award.

Galle have beaten Jaffna twice already, and lost the one that mattered

The final is at the same ground on Saturday, a 19:30 IST start, and it is a rematch of Qualifier 1 from Wednesday, when Jaffna made 242 for 2 and Galle fell 14 short with 228 for 8.

The league phase went the other way. Galle beat Jaffna by 36 runs at the SSC on 17 July and by 60 runs in Dambulla six days later, which is why Jaffna finishing top of the table on 11 points came with an asterisk attached. Galle were a point behind them.

Asalanka has been the constant through this Galle run, and Harper’s form at the top is the difference between the side that lost Qualifier 1 and the one that turned up on Friday. Jaffna have had the extra day off and the better record when it counts. Galle have the head-to-head and the momentum, and one more partnership like the second-wicket stand at Premadasa would settle it.

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