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Dambulla Aura (Source: Twitter)
Dambulla Aura finished the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2023 league phase on top of the table with a 20-run win over B-Love Kandy in Match 20 on Monday, August 14. After being put in to bat first, Aura finished with a score of 162 and they went into the second innings confident as no side has chased down a 160 target in the LPL this season. Kandy had a tough task ahead of them and the Aura bowlers did not allow them to get off to a positive start.
Chasing a highly competitive total, Kandy lost both their openers in the second over to Dhananjaya de Silva. Dinesh Chandimal and captain Wanindu Hasaranga, who promoted himself to No. 4 stitched a crucial partnership to end the powerplay well. However, the two could not stay together for long as Hasaranga was dismissed just after the powerplay. Angelo Mathews and Chandimal then kept the scoreboard ticking but DDS once again spoiled the party by removing the former and Chaturanga de Silva in the same over.
Isuru Udana played a handy knock towards the end of the innings but it wasn't enough to help his team cross the finish line. Chandimal scored 50 off 46 balls with six boundaries, but his effort went in vain as Aura bowlers bowled out Kandy for 142 in 19.4 overs. Aura skipper DDS had a bad day with the bat, but the all-rounder shone with his bowling as he finished with figures of 2-0-6-4.
Aura openers laid the foundation with a 61-run partnership
Earlier, Aura openers Avishka Fernando (41 off 27 balls) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (31 off 26) started off brilliantly with a partnership of 61 runs off 7.5 overs. They lost a couple of more wickets in the middle overs, but Ben McDermott struck at 160 and contributed a valuable 37 runs. Hayden Kerr gave a finishing touch with a knock of 26 off 16 balls and helped his team cross the 160-run mark.
With six wins in eight matches, 12 points at a net run rate of +0.793 is a testament to Aura's dominance throughout this league stage. Meanwhile, Kandy have almost secured second place but will have to wait for the result of the final league match between Galle Titans and Colombo Strikers on August 15.
Here's how fans reacted to Dambulla Aura's win over B-Love Kandy:
Shahnawaz Dahani bowled an excellent spell of 1/25 from four overs for Dambulla Aura against B-Love Kandy. He was replacing Hasan Ali tonight, Hasan was rested as Dambulla were already on top and had qualified. Dahani also bowled a maiden over against Chandimal ❤️ #LPL2023… pic.twitter.com/6LOnIbeQBZ
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) August 14, 2023
MI ki Jersey full copy maar rakhi hai 😂
— Zimbabar Azambwe (@Azam_says) August 15, 2023
What a wonderful innings by Chandimal! Scoring 50 runs in 46 balls, he slowed down the run rate and ended up being a contributing factor to his own team's loss.#LPL2023 #Chandimal #DambullaAura#BLoveKandy pic.twitter.com/hpvs5rRObj
— Dhanushan Arumugam 𝕏 (@itsDhanushan) August 14, 2023
Fantastic victory from my beloved Dambulla Aura and I can feel that we can go all the way to at least the final,good friend!!!🏋️♂️
— DGuy (@Superb_Talent1) August 14, 2023
Dahani deserves main squad. I already said he is better than Rauf Naseem wasim
— Adeel Ahmed (@TheAdeelPanhwar) August 14, 2023
He was a superman in his bowling and aced extremely so fantastic with four wickets which he won and only conceded six runs,good friends!!!🏋️♂️🏋️♂️🏋️♂️🏋️♂️
— DGuy (@Superb_Talent1) August 14, 2023
I am so happy with my beloved Dambulla Aura winning this match,mainly through our bowling performance n Dhananjaya De Silva was extremely so fantastic with winning four wickets n only conceding six runs even when we did rotate our squad,good friend!On to d playoff round!🏋️♂️
— DGuy (@Superb_Talent1) August 14, 2023
Such an underrated player
— Minna 🍀 (@MininduTG) August 15, 2023