Dambulla Aura Archives

Kerr, Perera guide Dambulla Aura to LPL final as Galle Titans falter

COLOMBO: Kusal Perera’s half-century and Hayden Kerr’s three-for powered Dambulla Aura to the final of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) as they edged Galle Titans in the Qualifier 1 by seven wickets on Thursday.

Dambulla Aura after winning the toss, struck early with the ball as Binura Fernando sent Banuka Rajapaksa back to the pavilion on the second ball of the innings without any score on the board.

Litton Das also followed Rajapaksa to the pavilion after adding eight runs to the total score of 25.

Lasith Croospulle, on the other end, led the charge for Galle Titans as he formed a solid partnership of 51 runs off 38 deliveries with Shakib Al Hasan before the latter perished, courtesy of Dhananjaya de Silva.

Shakib scored a cautious 19 off 17 laced with three boundaries.

Croospulle kept the Titans in the game, as he reached his fifty in 33 balls while losing partners on the other end.

He ultimately ran out in the last over after playing a sensible 80-run knock in 61 balls with the help of seven boundaries. The whole team was bundled out at the score of 146 on the final ball of the innings.

Besides Croospulle and Shakib, only two other batters managed to reach double figures for Galle Titans.

Hayden Kerr led the bowling attack for Dambulla Aura with impressive figures of 3-18, while Noor Ahmed contributed with two wickets for 27 runs. Hasan Ali, Fernando, and de Silva managed to pick one wicket each.

Dambulla Aura in pursuit of Galle Titan’s 146 to secure their spot in the LPL 2023 final, raced to 29 runs in three overs before opener Avishka Fernando was dismissed by Shakib Al Hasan. Fernando scored a quick-fire 24 off 14 featuring three sixes and one boundary.

The dismissal slowed down the scoring rate for Dambulla Aura as Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama stitched a cautious partnership of 31 off 29.

However, Seekkuge Prasanna removed Samarawickrama to reduce Dambulla Aura to 64-2.

Kusal Perera came down to the middle with Dambulla Aura needing 83 runs off 69 deliveries.

He started off slowly but shifted gears in the latter part of the innings, while Kusal Mendis anchored through the innings as they knitted a 69-run stand from 56 balls before Tabraiz Shamsi removed Mendis.

Kusal Mendis scored 49 runs from 45 deliveries with the help of seven boundaries, while Kusal Perera completed his half-century with a six in 36 balls.

Perera, however, faltered on the first ball of the final over with scores tied as he clubbed a slow full toss back to the bowler, Dasun Shanaka. Alex Ross then scored the final run to seal the deal for Dambulla Aura.

Kusal Perera played a vital knock of 53 runs off 39 balls, featuring four boundaries and three sixes.

Dambulla Aura with this victory booked the slot for the LPL final on August 20, while Galle Titans have another chance to qualify as they will play the Qualifier 2 match on Sunday against the winner of tonight’s Eliminator between defending champions Jaffna Kings and B-Love Kandy.

READ: Six international cricketers to attend PCB Level-2 Cricket Coach course

Hasan eclipses Malik’s heroics as Dambulla Aura edge Jaffna Kings in LPL

PALLEKELE: Shoaib Malik’s late fireworks went in vain as Hasan Ali ran through Jaffna Kings’ batting line-up to guide Dambulla Aura to a thrilling nine-run win over Jaffna Kings in the 11th match of the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL) on Monday.

Dambulla Aura jumped to the top of the table in the ongoing LPL, after they defended the joint-second lowest total in the LPL history.

Requiring 34 off the last over of Afghanistan prodigy Noor Ahmed, Jaffna Kings had their hopes alive with Shoaib Malik on the crease.

He started the over on a high, hitting two sixes, but the young bowler held on to his nerves and bowled two dot balls to seal the deal for his team.

Malik however hit a boundary and a six off the last two balls but the game was already over by then, as Dambulla Aura won by 9 runs.

He waged a lone battle against Aura’s bowlers, scoring more than half of his team’s total of 125.

Shoaib Malik’s innings of 74 off 56 balls was laced with five boundaries and six sixes. Besides Malik, only Dunith Wellalage (16) managed to reach double figures.

After winning the toss, Jaffna Kings put Dambulla Aura into bat, and they got off to a flying start as the first over of Maheesh Theekshana saw both openers going back to the pavilion.

Avishka Fernando ran himself out on the first delivery, while Kusal Mendis holed one straight to Malik at deep midwicket.

Sadeera Samarawickrama and Kusal Perera knitted a formidable partnership of 51 runs for Dambulla Aura before the former was castled by Dunith Wellalage. Samarawickrama’s anchoring 30 off 25 featured four boundaries.

Dhananjaya de Silva (4) joined Perera but was soon bowled by Malik with just 69 on the board in the 11th over.

Perera then attempted to shift gears and take on Malik with a reverse sweep but missed the length ball and was cleaned up.

Subsequently, no batter posed any real threat to Jaffna Kings except Hayden Kerr, who scored 25 off 20 at the backend to guide his team to a modest total of 134.

Shoaib Malik and Nuwan Thushara picked two wickets each for the Kings, while Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage managed one apiece.

Jaffna Kings started the chase in contrast to their brilliant bowling performance as they were reduced to 10-3 in four overs.

Hasan Ali removed opening batters Rahmanullah Gurbaz (3) and Charith Asalanka (5), whereas Towhid Hridoy perished for a first-ball duck off Binura Fernando.

David Miller was then involved in a brief 17-run partnership with Malik until chipping one straight to the bowler, Hayden Kerr and left the Kings reeling at 27/4 just after the powerplay.

Malik then formed a crucial partnership for the Kings when he added 39 runs for the fifth wicket with Dunith Wellalage before Hasan Ali came back into the attack and crashed the top of Wellalage’s off-stump.

With the Kings in heaps of trouble after losing wickets at regular intervals, Shoaib Malik batted cautiously in the middle phase and the required run rate kept rising.

With the Kings requiring 50 off 18 deliveries, Shoaib Malik finally shifted gears in the 18th over, as he hit 10 runs off Hasan Ali to bring up his fifty in 44 balls.

However, Malik’s heroics came a touch too late as the Kings fell just nine runs short of pulling a miraculous victory.

Defending champions Jaffna Kings are now placed at the fourth spot in the LPL standings and will face Colombo Strikers in the next game on Tuesday, while table-toppers Dambulla Aura will face second-positioned Galle Titans on Wednesday.

READ: Babar Azam’s maiden LPL ton lifts Colombo Strikers to edge Galle Titans

LPL: Kusal Mendis guides Dambulla Aura to edge Colombo Strikers

PALLEKELE: Nuwanidu Fernando’s unbeaten half-century failed to trump Kusal Mendis’s 46-ball 87 as Dambulla Aura edged Colombo Strikers by 10 runs in the eighth match of the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2023.

In a high-scoring game, Colombo Strikers fell 10 runs short of the 193-run target. They needed 31 runs off the final over but managed to score only 20.

Nuwanidu Fernando remained not out at 56 off 39 deliveries, while his partner Chamika Karunaratne scored 20 off seven balls. Noor Ahmed picked two wickets, while Hayden Kerr and Dhananjaya de Silva picked one wicket each.

After winning the toss, Colombo Strikers opted to bowl first, they inflicted early damage on Dambulla Aura in the form of Avishka Fernando’s wicket.

However, what followed that wicket was a clinical partnership between captain Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama. They added 120 runs for the second wicket.

Kusal Mendis scored 87 off 46 before falling to Naseem Shah, while Samarawickrama scored 59 runs from 35 balls as both fell in successive overs.

The Aura appeared to be in complete control to breach the 200-run landmark but a tight death bowling from Colombo Strikers restricted them to 192/6.

Matheesha Pathirana picked three wickets, while Naseem Shah bagged two wickets. Chamika Karunaratne gave 55 for his single wicket, whereas, Mohammad Nawaz conceded 37 runs off his three overs without any wicket.

Colombo Strikers got off to a poor start to the run chase as they lost their captain Niroshan Dickwella early with just 17 runs on the board.

Babar Azam was then joined by Pathum Nissanka and the pair knitted an anchoring 62-run partnership for the second wicket which lasted when the former was trapped leg-before wicket by Noor Ahmad.

He smashed seven boundaries amid his 24-ball 41.

Nissanka, who could contribute a mere 19 amid his second-wicket stand with Babar, failed to switch gears and finally perished in the 13th over.

He scored a cautious 22 off 28 deliveries, hitting one boundary and a six.

Following his departure, Fernando glimmered a ray of hope for the Strikers to pull off the run chase with belligerent hitting but his efforts came up as his side succumbed to a 10-run defeat.

His unbeaten 56-run knock featured four boundaries and as many sixes.

Noor Ahmad led the bowling attack for the Aura with 2/34 followed by Dhananjaya de Silva and Hayden Kerr picking up one wicket apiece.

Dambulla Aura will face Jaffna Kings in their next LPL game, while Colombo Strikers will battle against Galle Titans. Both games will be played on August 7.