Lanka Premier League Final Preview: Betting Tips & Predictions

Cricket traditionists will be outraged at the thought of a team qualifying for a major final having won just three games all season. Well, that is what has happened with Galle Gladiators, they finished in the fourth and final play-off place with two wins from eight and we all expected them to be brushed aside by league leaders Colombo Kings. That didn’t end up being the case as Lakshan Sandakan smashed a four off the second to last ball to secure an amazing victory. They needed to score 15 runs off the final over after the Kings made 150-9 off their 20 overs. Dhananjaya Lakshan did most of the damage in the final over as he hit 11 off four balls to allow Sandakan to score the winning runs. They will take on a Jaffna Stallions side who have only won five matches all year as they shocked Dambulla Viiking to reach the Final. The fact that the Gladiators and Stallions have reached the final, it gives everyone a bit of hope that you don’t need to finish top to be successful. Dambulla were expected to win quite comfortably against the Stallions, Jaffna were put in to bat and 76 from opener Johnson Charles put them in a strong position as they made 165-9. Dambulla were still expected to knock that total off, but they were unable to do so as Wanindu Hasaranga claimed three wickets on the way to bowling Dambulla out for 128. On the surface, not having the top two teams qualify for the final is not a great advert, but on the other hand it shows how close each and every team is. This should be a thrilling final, and I am backing the Stallions to win this one. Charles was in fine form in the semi-final and I am backing him to score a half-century, while I expect the highest individual score to be above 68.5 runs.