LPL: Dambulla too strong for Colombo

Colombo Stars fell 18 runs shorter of their target as the Dambulla Giants gained two important points on the points table.

The Stars were bowled out on 177 runs in the 19th over due to the brilliant bowling performance from the Dambulla bowlers. 

Dambulla Giants   20 overs    195-6 

Phil Salt     62(34)             Chameera 3-34                                                                                                     Najibullah 54(40)             Prasanna   1-21

Colombo Stars     20 overs     177 all-out

Chandimal 26(16)            Pradeep     3-50                                                                                                                    T. Banton   23(14)            Retnayake 2-17        

The Dambulla Giants started their innings destructively after electing to bat first.

The Dambulla Giants openers, Phil Salt and Niroshan Dickwella smashed 48 runs in the first 3 overs to put the opposition under pressure right from the start.

Dickwella was dismissed after scoring 17 runs off 6 balls in the 4th over of the innings.

Keemo Paul broke this dangerous-looking partnership to drag his side back into the game.

Dambulla Giants lost Dilshan Munaweera in the 5th over followed by the dismissal of Sohaib Maqsood in the next over.

So, the Colombo Stars picked up 3 quicks wickets in the 4th, 5th, and 6th over but they still managed to score 75 runs in those 6 overs of powerplay.

Phil Salt’s brilliant knock

Phil Salt played an excellent knock of 62 runs in the start.

He used only 34 balls for his 62 runs which included 8 fours and 2 sixes.

He was brilliant with the bat and played shots all around the ground. Salt was also awarded as The Player of the Match due to his brilliant performance in this match.

Salt was dismissed by Chameera in the 11th over of the innings. 

Najibullah Zadran played an important knock in the last part of the innings as he scored 54 runs on just 40 balls including 6 fours and 2 sixes.

Najibullah put up a match-changing partnership of 77 runs with the skipper Dasun Shanaka.

Najibullah and Shanaka assured that their team will end on a big score today.

The Dambulla Giants ended their innings on a huge total of 195-6.

Chameera picked up 3 wickets for 34 runs and he was the leading wicket-taker for his side in this match.  

Prasanna also picked up 1 wicket for just 21 runs from his 4 overs.

Colombo’s brittle batting order

The Colombo Stars lost regular wickets at the start of their innings that jolted their hopes to chase down this huge total.

Tom Banton was bowled by Ratnayake in the 3rd over.

Kusal Perera was looking pretty good but he was done and dusted by the experienced Imran Tahir on the last ball of the 5th over.

Kusal Perera scored 20 runs off just  11 balls including 2 fours and 2 sixes.

Colombo Stars continued to lose wickets and they were on 79-5 in 11 overs at one stage.

Chandimal tries to stem the flow of wickets

Chandimal and D. De silva tried to overturn things for their sides, but both of them lost their wickets after having a good start.

Chandimal made 26 off 11 while D. de silva scored 21 runs off 13 balls. Most of the Colombo batters got good starts of 20+ but all of them failed to convert that 20s into a match-winning 50 or 60.

The tail-enders scored some quick runs to put 177 runs on the board before getting all-out in 18.5 overs.

Nuwan Pradeep picked up 3 wickets but he was very expensive as he conceded 50 runs from his 4 overs.

The youngster Tharindu Ratnayake was outstanding with the bowl, he picked up 2 wickets for just 17 runs in 4 overs.

Imran Tahir also took 2 wickets for 36 runs in his quota of 4 overs. 

The points table