# Galle Gladiators in 2021

The Galle Gladiators (GG) is the franchise cricket team based in Galle, Southern Province, Sri Lanka which has been playing in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) since the first edition of the tournament in 2020. They were one of the five teams to compete in the 2021 Lanka Premier League. The team was captained by Bhanuka Rajapaksa and coached by Umar Gul.

## Squad

* Players with international caps are listed in bold.
* Ages given as of 5 December 2021, the date the first match was played in the tournament
| No. | Name | Nationality | Date of birth (age) | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
| Batsman |||||||
| 24 | Bhanuka Rajapaksa | Sri Lanka | (1991-10-24)24 October 1991 (aged 30) | Left- handed | Right-arm medium | Captain |
| 70 | Danushka Gunathilaka | Sri Lanka | (1991-03-17)17 March 1991 (aged 30) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| | Sahan Arachchige | Sri Lanka | (1996-05-13)13 May 1996 (aged 25) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| | Angelo Jayasinghe | Sri Lanka | (1993-01-25)25 January 1993 (aged 28) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| All-rounders |||||||
| 8 | Mohammad Hafeez | Pakistan | (1980-10-17)17 October 1980 (aged 41) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | Overseas player |
| 17 | Isuru Udana | Sri Lanka | (1988-04-17)17 April 1988 (aged 33) | Right-handed | Left-arm medium | |
| 29 | Samit Patel | England | (1984-11-30)30 November 1984 (aged 37) | Right-handed | Slow left arm orthodox | Overseas player |
| 18 | Dhananjaya Lakshan | Sri Lanka | (1998-10-05)5 October 1998 (aged 23) | Left-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | |
| 48 | Anwar Ali | Pakistan | (1987-11-25)25 November 1987 (aged 34) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | Overseas player |
| 98 | Lahiru Madushanka | Sri Lanka | (1992-09-12)12 September 1992 (aged 29) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | |
| 88 | Pulina Tharanga | Sri Lanka | (1993-01-23)23 January 1993 (aged 28) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| 36 | Kevin Koththigoda | Sri Lanka | (1998-10-04)4 October 1998 (aged 23) | Left-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| 73 | Suminda Lakshan | Sri Lanka | (1997-04-07)7 April 1997 (aged 24) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| Wicket-keepers |||||||
| 51 | Ben Dunk | Australia | (1987-03-11)11 March 1987 (aged 34) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | Overseas player |
| 13 | Kusal Mendis | Sri Lanka | (1995-02-02)2 February 1995 (aged 26) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| 23 | Sadeera Samarawickrama | Sri Lanka | (1995-08-30)30 August 1995 (aged 26) | Right-handed | — | |
| 7 | Mohammed Shamaaz | Sri Lanka | (2001-02-02)2 February 2001 (aged 20) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| Spin bowlers |||||||
| 16 | Noor Ahmad | Afghanistan | (2005-01-03)3 January 2005 (aged 16) | Right-handed | Left-arm unorthodox spin | Overseas player |
| | Ashian Daniel | Sri Lanka | (2001-02-20)20 February 2001 (aged 20) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Pace bowlers |||||||
| 5 | Mohammad Amir | Pakistan | (1992-04-13)13 April 1992 (aged 29) | Left-handed | Left-arm fast | Overseas player |
| 4 | Nuwan Thushara | Sri Lanka | (1994-08-06)6 August 1994 (aged 27) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | |
| 14 | Pramod Madushan | Sri Lanka | (1993-12-14)14 December 1993 (aged 27) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | |

## Teams and standings
### Results by match

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Result | W | L | W | NR | L | L | W | W |
| Position | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |

### Points table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
| 1 | Jaffna Kings (C) | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 2.210 |
| 2 | Galle Gladiators (R) | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 0.143 |
| 3 | Colombo Stars (4th) | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | −0.571 |
| 4 | Dambulla Giants (3rd) | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 7 | −1.003 |
| 5 | Kandy Warriors | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | −0.668 |
* The top four teams qualified for the playoffs
* Advanced to Qualifier 1
* Advanced to Eliminator

## League stage

The full schedule was published on the official website of Sri Lankan Cricket on 13 October 2021.
* Match 1 5 December 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Galle Gladiators 164/7 (20 overs) | v | Jaffna Kings 110 (18.2 overs) |
| Bhanuka Rajapaksa 56 (31) Jayden Seales 3/23 (4 overs) | | Wahab Riaz 27 (20) Samit Patel 3/21 (4 overs) |
* Gale Gladiators won by 54 runs R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena and Ruchira Palliyaguruge Player of the match: Samit Patel (Galle Gladiators)
* Jaffna Kings won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 3 6 December 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Galle Gladiators 116/8 (20 overs) | v | Colombo Stars 117/6 (17.3 overs) |
| Ben Dunk 38 (25) Dhananjaya de Silva 2/18 (4 overs) | | Dinesh Chandimal 26* (27) Nuwan Thushara 2/26 (2.3 overs) |
* Colombo Stars won by 4 wickets R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena and Deepal Gunawardene Player of the match: Dhananjaya de Silva (Colombo Stars)
* Galle Gladiators won the toss and elected to bat.
* Match 5 7 December 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Kandy Warriors 143/6 (20 overs) | v | Galle Gladiators 147/6 (19.2 overs) |
| Ahmed Shehzad 56 (51) Samit Patel 3/13 (4 overs) | | Danushka Gunathilaka 45 (33) Sachindu Colombage 3/20 (4 overs) |
* Galle Gladiators won by 4 wickets R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Hemantha Boteju and Kumar Dharmasena Player of the match: Dhananjaya Lakshan (Galle Gladiators)
* Kandy Warriors won the toss and elected to bat.
* Match 8 10 December 2021 15:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Dambulla Giants 159/7 (20 overs) | v | Galle Gladiators 18/0 (1.2 overs) |
| Dasun Shanaka 37 (32) Nuwan Thushara 2/24 (3 overs) | | Kusal Mendis 15* (5) |
* No result R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Keerthi Bandara and Lyndon Hannibal
* Dambulla Giants won the toss and elected to bat.
* No further play was possible due to rain.
* Match 10 11 December 2021 15:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Galle Gladiators 127/7 (20 overs) | v | Kandy Warriors 131/5 (18.4 overs) |
| Kusal Mendis 44 (34) Kamindu Mendis 3/25 (4 overs) | | Ravi Bopara 34* (39) Samit Patel 2/20 (4 overs) |
* Kandy Warriors won by 5 wickets R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Ravindra Kottahachchi and Prageeth Rambukwella Player of the match: Ravi Bopara (Kandy Warriors)
* Galle Gladiators won the toss and elected to bat.
* Match 13 12 December 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Colombo Stars 162/7 (18 overs) | v | Galle Gladiators 121 (16.5 overs) |
| Angelo Mathews 73 (57) Dhananjaya Lakshan 2/22 (2 overs) | | Kusal Mendis 64 (39) Naveen-ul-Haq 3/27 (3.5 overs) |
* Colombo Stars won by 41 runs R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Asanga Jayasooriya and Raveendra Wimalasiri Player of the match: Dinesh Chandimal (Colombo Stars)
* Colombo Stars won the toss and elected to bat.
* The match was reduced to 18 overs per side due to rain.
* Match 16 14 December 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Galle Gladiators 134/7 (14 overs) | v | Dambulla Giants 125/5 (14 overs) |
| Kusal Mendis 35 (17) Imran Tahir 3/20 (3 overs) | | Janith Liyanage 51 (37) Samit Patel 2/24 (3 overs) |
* Galle Gladiators won by 9 runs R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Ravindra Kottahachchi and Prageeth Rambukwella Player of the match: Samit Patel (Galle Gladiators)
* Dambulla Giants won the toss and elected to field.
* The match was reduced to 14 overs per side due to rain.
* Match 19 17 December 2021 15:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Galle Gladiators 129/8 (20 overs) | v | Jaffna Kings 109 (18.3 overs) |
| Bhanuka Rajapaksa 23 (25) Praveen Jayawickrama 2/13 (3 overs) | | Shoaib Malik 23 (27) Noor Ahmad 2/12 (4 overs) |
* Galle Gladiators won by 20 runs R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Asanga Jayasooriya and Prageeth Rambukwella Player of the match: Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Galle Gladiators)
* Galle Gladiators won the toss and elected to bat.

## Playoffs
### Qualifier 1

* Match 22 19 December 2021 20:30 (N) Scorecard
| Galle Gladiators 188/5 (20 overs) | v | Jaffna Kings 124 (16.5 overs) |
| Kusal Mendis 85 (53) Thisara Perera 2/36 (4 overs) | | Rahmanullah Gurbaz 59 (37) Nuwan Thushara 5/13 (3.5 overs) |
* Galle Gladiators won by 64 Runs Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota Umpires: Ruchira Palliyaguruge and Prageeth Rambukwella Player of the match: Kusal Mendis (Galle Gladiators)
* Jaffna Kings won the toss and elected to field.

### Final

* Match 24 23 December 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Jaffna Kings 201/3 (20 overs) | v | Galle Gladiators 178/9 (20 overs) |
| Avishka Fernando 63 (41) Samit Patel 1/32 (4 overs) | | Danushka Gunathilaka 54 (21) Chaturanga de Silva 2/15 (3 overs) |
* Jaffna Kings won by 23 runs Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota Umpires: Lyndon Hannibal and Raveendra Wimalasiri Player of the match: Avishka Fernando (Jaffna Kings)
* Jaffna Kings won the toss and elected to bat.

## Statistics
### Most runs

| Player | Matches | Runs | High score |
| Kusal Mendis | 10 | 327 | 85 |
| Danushka Gunathilaka | 10 | 226 | 55 |
| Bhanuka Rajapaksa | 10 | 179 | 56 |
| Samit Patel | 10 | 138 | 42 |
| Mohammad Hafeez | 9 | 89 | 16 |
* Source: ESPNcricinfo

### Most wickets

| Player | Matches | Wickets | Best bowling |
| Samit Patel | 10 | 16 | 3/13 |
| Nuwan Thushara | 8 | 12 | 5/13 |
| Noor Ahmad | 8 | 8 | 2/12 |
| Dhananjaya Lakshan | 6 | 6 | 2/11 |
| Mohammad Amir | 6 | 6 | 1/19 |
* Source: ESPNcricinfo