Galle Titans vs 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.

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Fernando-inspired Dambulla Aura sink Galle Titans in LPL

COLOMBO: Avishka Fernando played a swashbuckling 70-run knock in the run chase and powered Dambulla Aura to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Galle Titans in the 14th match of the Lanka Premier League (LPL).

Set to chase a modest 134, Dambulla Aura comfortably amassed the total for the loss of just three wickets and 14 balls to spare, thanks to Fernando’s unbeaten and match-winning knock.

Avishka Fernando alongside his captain Kusal Mendis scripted a decent start to the run chase as the pair added 47 runs before the latter perished in the eighth over.

Mendis played a cautious 18-run knock from 24 balls, hitting a boundary.

Fernando spearheaded Aura’s pursuit single-handedly and received meagre support from Sadeera Samarawickrama (25), Kusal Perera (5) and Dhananjaya de Silva (6*).

The right-handed opener carried his bat all the way through and top-scored for the Aura with a 49-ball 70 which featured three boundaries and three sixes.

Lahiru Kumara led the bowling attack for the Titans with 2/31 while Shakib Al Hasan picked one.

Put into bat first in the 14th match of the ongoing LPL, the Galle Titans’ batting lineup failed to put a defendable total on the board as a combined bowling effort from Dambulla Aura restricted them to 133/9 in 20 overs.

Titans’ captain Dasun Shanaka waged a lone battle with a counter-attacking knock. He top-scored for his side with a 26-ball 36, smashing five boundaries before Hasan Ali got rid of him in the 19th over.

Besides him, Chad Bowes (22), Tim Seifert (15), Shakib Al Hasan (13) and Sohan de Livera (12) were the other notable run-getters.

The rest, however, failed to make it into the double figures.

A dominant seven-wicket victory propelled Dambulla Aura to the top of the LPL standings with eighth points in six matches while Galle Titans remained at the bottom with four points in as many matches.

The leaders next face fourth-placed Colombo Strikers in Saturday’s second fixture while the Titans will square off against defending champions Jaffna Kings on Sunday.

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LPL: Galle Titans seal dramatic super over win over Dambulla Aura

COLOMBO: Galle Titans claimed a dramatic Super Over win in the second match of the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL) against Dambulla Aura on Monday to earn their first victory in the tournament.

The match went to a tie-break decider after both teams chalked up 180 runs in a high-scoring thriller at R Premadasa Stadium here.

Dambulla Aura could make 9/1 off a tight Super Over bowled by pacer Kasun Rajitha before Bhanuka Rajapaksa smashed a four off the first ball of Titans’ response, then sealed victory with a six.

Put into bat first in their LPL campaign opener, the Titans notched up 180/5 in the allotted 20 overs with Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Dasun Shanaka leading the charge.

Rajapaksa scored an anchoring 34-ball 48 which featured five boundaries and two sixes.

Coming out to bat at number six with the Titans at 123/4 in 15 overs, Shanaka played a quickfire knock to bolster his side’s total.

Shanaka scored a swashbuckling 21-ball 42, laced up with two boundaries and four sixes.

Besides the duo of Shanaka and Rajapaksa, opener Shevon Daniel made a notable contribution with a 26-ball 33 up the order.

Shahnawaz Dahani, making his LPL debut, led the bowling attack for the Auras with 2/37, followed by one wicket each for Binura Fernando and Dhananjaya de Silva.

The Aura, in response, also accumulated 180 runs, but for the loss of seven wickets.

The Aura got off to a shaky start, losing two wickets for just two runs in the second over.

Dhananjaya de Silva was then joined by Kusal Perera and the pair stitched a 76-run partnership for the third wicket.

Perera returned back to the hut in the 10th over after scoring 40 off 35 balls, which included four boundaries and two sixes.

The dangerous-looking de Silva got out in the 12th over after scoring 43 off 31 balls, hitting five fours and a six.

The Aura then lost two more wickets in quick succession which halted the flow of runs before Alex Ross glimmered a ray of hope with a scintillating cameo.

The right-handed batter scored a brisk 39 not out off 28 balls with the help of three boundaries and two sixes but fell just one run short of steering his side to glory.

The thrilling Super Over victory lifted Galle Titans to second in the LPL standings while Dambulla Aura remained at fourth.

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