B-Love Kandy vs Dambulla Aura Archives

Dambulla Aura crush B-Love Kandy in top-of-the-table LPL clash

COLOMBO: Dhananjaya de Silva’s bowling masterclass propelled leaders Dambulla Aura to a dominant 20-run victory in the top-of-the-table Lanka Premier League (LPL) clash on Monday.

In an enthralling clash between the top two sides of the ongoing edition of the LPL, Dambulla Aura emerged victorious to solidify their position as the table-toppers.

Put into bat first, Dambulla Aura piled up a massive total of 162/7 on the board, courtesy of a combined effort by Avishka Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama and Ben McDermott.

Aura openers Fernando and Samarawickrama gave their side a flying start to their innings as they raised 61 runs before Wanindu Hasaranga dismissed the latter in the eighth over.

The wicketkeeper batter scored a cautious 26-ball 31, laced up with six boundaries.

Fernando was then joined by Lakshan Edirisinghe and the pair could put on a brief 19-run partnership before both perished in the 10th over.

Avishka Fernando remained the top-scorer for the Aura with 41 from just 27 deliveries, hitting three boundaries and as many sixes.

McDermott took the reigns of Aura’s batting charge after Fernando’s dismissal and knitted brief partnerships with Dhananjaya de Silva (10) and Alex Ross (0) before finally perishing in the 18th over.

He scored 37 in 23 deliveries with the help of three boundaries and two sixes.

Before his dismissal, McDermott was involved in a vital 38-run partnership with Hayden Kerr, who scored a brisk 16-ball 26 which featured three boundaries and a six.

Set to chase 163, B-Love Kandy came up 20 runs as they could gather 142 before being bundled out in the final over despite Dinesh Chandimal’s half-century.

Experienced batter Chandimal waged a lone battle for B-Love Kandy with a 46-ball 50, hitting six boundaries.

However, his efforts were not enough to steer B-Love Kandy over the line.

Besides him, Wanindu Hasaranga (19), Angelo Mathews (26) and Isuru Udana (23) made notable contributions while the rest looked hapless against the Dhananjaya-led Aura bowling attack.

Dhananjaya de Silva returned astonishing figures of 4/6 in his two overs, followed by Pramod Madushan’s two while Sachitha Jayatilake, Hayden Kerr and Shahnawaz Dahani made one scalp each.

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Hasan Ali, McDermott shine as Dambulla Aura sink Colombo Strikers in LPL

COLOMBO: Ben McDermott’s unbeaten half-century and Hasan Ali’s three-for powered Dambulla Aura to a crushing 50-run victory over Colombo Strikers in the 16th game of the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL) on Saturday.

Dambulla Aura, having already booked their place in the playoffs of the LPL, comfortably sit at the top of the points table. Whereas, Colombo Strikers sank to the bottom of the LPL points table.

Opting to bat first, Dambulla Aura found themselves in trouble as they slumped to 24-3 in the fifth over.

Coming out to bat at number five, Ben McDermott put on a brief 22-run partnership with Dhananjaya de Silva before the latter perished.

Alex Ross joined McDermott at the crease with the scoreboard reading 46/4 and launched an astounding recovery for the Aura.

The pair batted sensibly under the pressure before taking the bowlers head-on.

They knitted a solid 102 runs partnership off 71 deliveries before Ross was caught behind off Matheesha Pathirana soon after amassing his half-century.

Alex Ross’s 38-ball 52 featured five boundaries and two sixes, while Ben McDermott remained unbeaten at 69 runs off 46 balls with the help of four boundaries and as many sixes.

This partnership helped Dambulla Aura reach a commendable total of 166 in 20 overs.

Matheesha Pathirana topped the bowling charts for Colombo Strikers with two wickets, while Naseem Shah, Chamika Karunaratne and Jeffrey Vandersay chipped in with one wicket each.

Set to chase 167, Colombo Strikers, too, had a poor start to their innings as they were reduced to 55-3 in the sixth over when Hasan Ali sent Babar Azam packing.

Babar could score 11 off 13 deliveries.

Angelo Perera soon followed the footsteps of star batter as Noor Ahmed trapped him out lbw.

Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Nawaz then put on a cautious 28-run stand and attempted to anchor the run chase.

However, Aura bowlers kept the pair under check and soon got the reward as Iftikhar was cleaned up by Dushan Hemantha at a total of 102.

Iftikhar failed to clear the rope even once during his cautious 18 off 26.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Nawaz scored 20 off 24 with the help of two boundaries before falling to Noor Ahmed.

Following Iftikhar’s departure, the Strikers’ innings soon collapsed at a total of 116, thanks to clinical bowling Dambulla Aura.

Hasan Ali picked up three wickets for 16 runs, while Dushman Hemantha, Noor Ahmed and Binura Fernando picked up two wickets each.

Colombo Strikers will face B-Love Kandy tonight in the 18th game of LPL, whereas, Dambulla Aura will face B-Love Kandy on Monday in their final LPL group fixture.

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Chandimal, Mujeeb lead B-Love Kandy to first victory in LPL 2023

PALLEKELE: Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s astonishing figures of 2/17 followed by Dinesh Chandimal’s 48 bolstered B-Love Kandy to claim their maiden victory in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2023.

Bottom-ranked B-Love Kandy put on all-round show to beat second-placed Dambulla Aura by seven wickets and nine balls to spare.

B-Love Kandy openers Fakhar Zaman and Dinesh Chandimal scripted a solid start for the pursuit with a magnificent 67-run partnership.

Fakhar, who batted cautiously for his 26-ball 28, which featured five boundaries, was the first to fall when he chipped one back to Dhananjaya de Silva in the eighth over.

Chandimal then put on a brief 30-run partnership with Kamindu Mendis before he got run out with B-Love Kandy still requiring 58 for victory off 53 balls.

He smashed seven boundaries on his way to top score for B-Love Kandy with a 29-ball 48.

Following Mendis’s dismissal in the 16th over, Mathews was joined by explosive batter Asif Ali and the pair made sure there were no hiccups in the run-chase and took B-Love Kandy home in the 19th over.

The pair put on an unbeaten 31-run partnership, dominated by Ali, who scored a quickfire 16 off eight while Mathews remained unbeaten on a 20-ball 28.

Hayden Kerr and Dhananjaya de Silva could pick up a wicket for Dambulla Aura.

Earlier, after opting to bat first, Dambulla Aura could score 156/6 in 20 overs despite Dhananjaya de Silva’s quick half-century.

The right-handed batter smashed five boundaries and three sixes and top-scored for the Aura with a 39-ball 61.

The next notable run-getters for the Aura were Avishka Fernando (32) and Alex Ross (21) while the rest made meagre contributions.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Isuru Udana led the bowling attack for B-Love Kandy with two wickets each while Mohammad Hasnain and Dushmantha Chameera made one scalp apiece.

Despite a convincing seven-wicket victory, B-Love Kandy remained at the bottom in the LPL 2023 standings while Dambulla Aura managed to get behold of their second position.

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