Charith Asalanka and Eshan Malinga shared six wickets between them as Galle Gallants clinched a low-scoring final to secure their first Lanka Premier League (LPL) title, in Colombo. After the pair dismissed Jaffna Kings for 123, Gallants wrapped up the chase with five wickets and 25 balls to spare at the Premadasa Stadium.

Malinga’s three-wicket haul placed him at the top of the wickets charts, with 17 strikes overall at an economy rate of 9.32. Malinga combined well with Asalanka, the batting allrounder, to run through Kings’ middle order.

Wicketkeeper-opener Kamil Mishara was the only Kings batter to pass 25 in their innings. He scored 41 off 32 balls before Malinga cut his knock short in the 13th over. Allrounder Chamindu Wickramasinghe was the second-highest scorer for Kings with 25 off 16 balls.

Tharindu Ratnayake, the ambidextrous spinner, also did his bit, picking up 2 for 14.

In response, Gallants lost Sam Harper in the first over, but Tom Rogers, his Australian compatriot, smoothed the chase with 34 off 27 balls. In the ninth over, Shakib Al Hasan engineered a double-strike to remove Rogers and Dinura Kalupahana (31 off 19 balls), and Chamika Karunaratne fell shortly after, but Dasun Shanaka and Sahan Arachchige got the job done for Gallants.