fter two defeats in Colombo, B-Love Kandy got their campaign in the Lanka Premier League 2023 underway with a comprehensive seven wicket win over Dambulla Aura at Pallekele yesterday.
Set a target of 147, B-Love Kandy got there with nine balls to spare. It was an easy run chase on a good batting track as Dinesh Chandimal and Fakhar Zaman added 69 runs for the first wicket off just 48 balls. Chandimal outscored the usually aggressive Zaman and the excellent start took the game away from Dambulla who were guilty of not putting enough runs on the board.
Chandimal was run out for two runs short of a well deserved half-century but by then he had done the damage. His 48 came off 29 balls with seven fours.
Hayden Kerr took a superb return catch to see the back of Kamindu Mendis for 18, but Angelo Mathews and Aasif Ali were involved in an unbroken 31 run stand for the fourth wicket to see their side through.
Dambulla kept losing wickets batting first. Avishka Fernando continued his impressive run in the tournament but on 32 was caught at short third man. Sadeera Samarawickrama and Kusal Perea fell for poor strokes and it was left for Dhananjaya de Silva to rescue the innings.
Sadeera and Kusal weren’t the only players to throw their wickets away. Kusal Mendis also played a poor shot and questions are being asked as to how Mendis can lead the side ahead of proven players like KJP and Dhananjaya.
Dhananjaya played some elegant strokes giving his side a respectable total. His 61 came off 39 balls with five fours and three sixes.
There was some big hitting towards the end of the innings but Dambulla needed much more than that at Pallekele where conditions are perfect for batting. In the end, they were ruing not having enough runs on the board despite possessing one of the best batting units in the competition.
Brief Scores:
Dambulla Aura 156-6 (20)
(Avishka Fernando 32, Dhananjaya de Silva 62, Alex Ross 21, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2-17)
B-Love Kandy
160-3 (18.3)
(Fakhar Zaman 28, Dinesh Chandimal 48, Angelo Mathews 28, Dhananjaya de Silva 1-16)
Result: B-Love Kandy won by seven wickets