B – Love Kandy registered their first win after being suffered two losses to beat Dambulla Aura in Match No.6 of the Lanka Premier League 2023, which was played today (4th August) at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.
Dambulla Aura Captain Kusal Mendis has decided to bat first after winning the toss. The Aura went unchanged, while the Kandy made two changes, bringing Fakhar Zaman and Dushmantha Chameera for Thanuka Dabare and Aamer Jamal.
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The Skipper Kusal Mendis and Avishka Fernando had begun the innings, but their opening stand was just reduced to 14. Mendis (7) was the first to depart when trying to heave it over mid-wicket and ended up hitting straight to short mid-wicket fielder Kamindu Mendis off Dushmantha Chameera.
Sadeera Samarawickrama, who came at No.3, hit two consecutive boundaries against Mujeeb Ur Rahman. However, Mujeeb has struck back to send him back for 14 with a successful review for LBW. The dangerous Kusal Perera had to walk back to the dressing room in the same fashion as Mujeeb’s second victim.
After losing three early wickets for 35, Avishka Fernando and Dhananjaya De Silva added 42 runs for the 4th wicket. During that partnership, Fernando became the first-ever batsman to reach 1000 runs in LPL history. Isuru Udana provided the breakthrough, dismissing the latter for 32 runs.
Alex Ross came next to join De Silva and the duo added a 26-ball 40 runs for the 5th wicket. Ross scored 21 off 18 deliveries before being castled by Mohammad Hasnain. De Silva has continued his terrific fine form and stroked a fighting half-century, helping Dambulla Aura to post 156/6 in their 20 overs.
The former was dismissed off the last delivery of the innings after scoring a brilliant 39-ball 61, which included 5 fours & 3 sixes. On the bowling front, Mujeeb was the best, finishing with 2/17 in his 4 overs, while Udana scalped 2/33. Chameera and Hasnain were expensive, finishing with 1/40 (4) & 1/35 (3), respectively.
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Pakistani attacking left-hander Fakhar Zaman and Dinesh Chandimal came out as the openers. The duo took the game away early in the innings and finished the Powerplay with 57/0. Dhananjaya De Silva, the man with the golden arm, has provided the first wicket for the Aura, taking a superb catch to dismiss Zaman off his bowling. The former has scored 28 runs on his LPL debut.
Then, Chandimal and Kamindu Mendis added another 30 runs for the 2nd wicket. Chandimal has smashed a flurry of boundaries before being run out for 48, unfortunately. The keeper batter has batted with a cracking strike rate of 165.52 with 7 fours.
The partnership between Mendis and Angelo Mathews was also reduced to 30, courtesy of another sharp catch and this time, it was Hayden Kerr off his bowling. Mendis failed to get going where he scored only 18 using 28 balls with a single boundary.
Asif Ali joined Mathews in the middle and took B – Love Kandy to their first win this season, by 7 wickets. Mathews remained unbeaten on 28, including 2 fours & 1 six while Asif Ali stayed not out on 16 with 3 fours. De Silva and Kerr were only two bowlers to success with the ball in hand for Dambulla Aura.
The Afghan mystery spinner, Mujeeb Ur Rahman who bowled exceptionally well today, was adjudged as the Player of the Match.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avishka Fernando | c Mujeeb ur Rahman b Isuru Udana | 32 | 31 | 3 | 1 | 103.23 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Kamindu Mendis b Dushmantha Chameera | 7 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 77.78 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | lbw b Mujeeb ur Rahman | 14 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 233.33 |
| Kusal Janith | lbw b Mujeeb ur Rahman | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 80.00 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Ashen Bandara b Isuru Udana | 61 | 39 | 5 | 3 | 156.41 |
| Alex Ross | b Mohammad Hasnain | 21 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 116.67 |
| Hayden Kerr | not out | 12 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 92.31 |
| Extras | 5 (b 0 , lb 3 , nb 1, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 156/6 (20 Overs, RR: 7.8) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angelo Mathews | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5.00 | |
| Mujeeb ur Rahman | 4 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 4.25 | |
| Dushmantha Chameera | 4 | 0 | 40 | 1 | 10.00 | |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 4 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 5.75 | |
| Mohammad Hasnain | 3 | 0 | 35 | 1 | 11.67 | |
| Isuru Udana | 4 | 0 | 33 | 2 | 8.25 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fakhar Zaman | c & b Dhananjaya de Silva | 28 | 26 | 5 | 0 | 107.69 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | run out (Kusal Mendis) | 48 | 29 | 7 | 0 | 165.52 |
| Kamindu Mendis | c & b Hayden Kerr | 18 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 64.29 |
| Angelo Mathews | not out | 28 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 140.00 |
| Asif Ali | not out | 16 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 200.00 |
| Extras | 22 (b 5 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 16, pen 0) |
| Total | 160/3 (18.3 Overs, RR: 8.65) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binura Fernando | 3 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 7.00 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 3 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 5.33 | |
| Shahnawaz Dahani | 3.3 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 13.94 | |
| Ravindu Fernando | 1 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 17.00 | |
| Hayden Kerr | 4 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 7.00 | |
| Noor Ahmad | 4 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 6.50 | |
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 at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.){kind=link}