Nidahas Trophy final ghosts haunt Vijay Shankar again, plays maiden final over in LPL when team needed 22 runs

India's recently-retired all-rounder Vijay Shankar was haunted by the ghosts of the Nidahas Trophy 2018 final once again on Sri Lankan soil. Eight years ago, it was in Colombo when Bangladesh bowlers, especially left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman troubled him. This time, in Pallekele, it was Sri Lanka's left-arm pacer Dilshan Madushanka who bowled him a wicket-maiden final over in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2026 match.

Swings and misses, finding fielders in deep

In the final over of the match, Kandy Royals needed 22 runs to win with just one wicket in hand. First ball was a short one outside off, Shankar went for a pull but found the deep mid-wicket fielder. He chose not to take a single. The second one was an off-cutter and Shankar missed it. The pacer followed it up with a yorker on off stump. All Shankar could do was chip it to long-on. Again, he did not take a single.

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After three dots on the trot, Madushanka needed to bowl just three legal deliveries as Royals still needed 22 runs. He delivered another off-cutter and Shankar missed the flick shot as the ball hit him on the pad. The change of pace continued to trouble Shankar. The penultimate delivery was an off-cutter and Shankar went for the shot across the line, missing the ball. For the final delivery, Madushanka bowled a short one. Shankar went for the shot but was caught at deep backward square leg.

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What happened before the last over?

Shankar wasn’t playing at a slow rate before the final over. He was batting on 25 off 15 deliveries. When he was new to the crease, he had hit Madushanka for two consecutive fours in the 16th over.

But, the wicket of skipper Wanindu Hasaranga in the 17th over after hitting Shakib Al Hasan for three sixes turned out to be the turning point.

As a result, Kandy Royals were bowled out for 200, losing the match by 21 runs.

Royals’ qualifiers spot in doubt

This was Kandy Royals' fifth defeat from eight games. They will hope that Jaffna Kings defeat Dambulla Sixers in their last league match on August 2 so that Royals progress to the qualifiers.