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 Notes Batsmen 28 Avishka Fernando Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast 29 Dawid Malan Left-handed Right-arm legbreak Marquee overseas player 45 Asif Ali Right-handed Right-arm offbreak Overseas 23 Nuwanidu Fernando Right-handed Right-arm offbreak All-rounders 1 Thisara Perera Left-handed Right-arm medium-fast Captain, Icon player 75 Dhananjaya de Silva Right-handed Right-arm offbreak 13 Wanindu Hasaranga Right-handed Legbreak 18 Shoaib Malik Right-handed Right-arm offbreak Overseas 10 Ravi Bopara Right-handed Right-arm medium Overseas 14 Charith Asalanka Left-handed right-arm offspin N/A Theivendiram Dinoshan Right-handed Right-arm fast Wicket-keepers 18 Minod Bhanuka Left-handed — 50 Chaturanga de Silva Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox 25 Johnson Charles Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast Overseas 23 Tom Moores Left-handed — Overseas Bowlers 82 Suranga Lakmal Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast N/A Binura Fernando Right-handed Left-arm medium-fast N/A Prabath Jayasuriya Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox 14 Usman Shinwari Right-handed Left-arm fast-medium Overseas 87 Kyle Abbott Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium Overseas 74 Duanne Olivier Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium Overseas N/A Maheesh Theekshana Right-handed Right-arm offbreak N/A Kanagarathinam Kabilraj Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium N/A Vijayakanth Viyaskanth Right-handed Legbreak N/A Sebastianpillai Vijeyaraj Right-handed Right-arm fast Sources
Administration and support staff Position Name Ref. 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
Matches + denotes the winning team. denotes the losing team. denotes no result. Date Opponent Toss Result Man of the match Notes 27 NovemberGalle Gladiators Galle Gladiators elected to bat Jaffna Stallions won by 8 runs Avishka Fernando 30 NovemberDambulla Viiking Dambulla Viiking elected to field Jaffna Stallions won by 66 runsThisara Perera 1 DecemberKandy Tuskers Jaffna Stallions elected to bat Jaffna Stallions won by 54 runs 3 DecemberGalle Gladiators Galle Gladiators elected to bat Jaffna Stallions won by 5 wickets Avishka Fernando 4 DecemberColombo Kings Colombo Kings elected to field Colombo Kings won by 6 wickets Dinesh Chandimal 7 DecemberDambulla Viiking Jaffna Stallions elected to fieldCancelled due to rain 9 DecemberKandy Tuskers Jaffna Stallions elected to bat Kandy Tuskers won by 6 wickets Asela Gunaratne 10 DecemberColombo Kings Jaffna Stallions elected to field Colombo Kings won by 6 runs Laurie Evans 14 DecemberDambulla Viiking Dambulla the elected to field Jaffna Stallions won by 37 runs Johnson Charles Won the semi-final 16 DecemberGalle 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 Ref. 27 NovemberMan of the Match Avishka Fernando Galle Gladiators Won by 8 runs 92* 30 NovemberThisara Perera Dambulla Viiking Won by 66 runs 97* 1 December Kandy Tuskers Won by 54 runs 68 3 December Avishka Fernando Galle Gladiators Won by 5 wickets 84 14 December Johnson Charles Dambulla Viiking Won by 37 runs 76 16 December Shoaib Malik Galle Gladiators Won by 53 runs 46
References