Dambulla Aura advanced to the Final of the Lanka Premier League 2023 with a six-wicket win over Galle Titans in Qualifier 1 today (17th August) at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.
After winning the toss, the Dambulla Aura chose to bat first against the Galle Titans. They made five significant changes, reintroducing their regular skipper Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Noor Ahmad, Hassan Ali, and Binura Fernando in place of Lakshan Edirisinghe, Ben McDermott, Sachitha Jayathilake, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Pramod Madushan. The Titans made no alterations to their winning combination.
<<< Shamsi, Croospulle take Galle Titans to the play-offs >>>
Lasith Croospulle and Bhanuka Rajapaksa walked in as the openers but failed to provide the ideal start for Galle. Rajapaksa’s poor run of form continued as he was sent back for a two-ball duck by Binura Fernando in the very first over. The Aussie pacer Hayden Kerr provided the 2nd wicket, dismissing Litton Das for 8.
After losing 2/25, Croospulle and Shakib Al Hasan began the rebuilding process, adding 51 runs for the third wicket. The partnership was broken by Dhananjaya De Silva, who got the top edge of Shakib (19 off 17) as he tried to go for a slog sweep and ended up holing out to Hayden Kerr at deep square leg.
Then, Noor Ahmad and Kerr ripped through the opponents’ batting lineup, where no one made significant contributions except Croospulle. The aggressive right-handed batter top-scored with an 80-run knock before being run out in the final over. His knock came off 61 balls, including 7 boundaries.
At the end of their 20 overs, the Galle Titans were bowled out for 146 runs. On the bowling front, Kerr was exceptional in his three-over spell, finishing with 3/18, while Noor picked up 2/27.
<<< De Silva leads Dambulla Aura to top of the table >>>
Chasing 147 to win, Dambulla Aura lost their first wicket after adding 33 runs, as Avishka Fernando was stumped out by Shakib. Sekkuge Prasanna got the next wicket, dismissing Sadeera Samarawickrama for 13.
Skipper Mendis and Kusal Perera eased the chase with a sensible 69-run stand for the third wicket. Tabraiz Shamsi broke the partnership by trapping Mendis LBW for 49 via a successful review.
Perera batted really well to score his third LPL half-century before being dismissed off the very first ball of the final over, when his team was just one run away from victory. After a couple of nervy dot balls, Alex Ross hit the winning runs for Dambulla Aura, as they reached the Finals for the first time in LPL history.
The winning Captain, Kusal Mendis, was adjudged Player of the Match. The Galle Titans have another chance to reach the Finals if they beat the winner of the Eliminator between B – Love Kandy and Jaffna Kings in the second Qualifier match.
Catch all the live action from the Lanka Premier League 2023 on Sri Lanka’s No.1 Sports Hub – ThePapare.com.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhanuka Rajapaksa | c Hayden Kerr b Binura Fernando | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Lasith Croospulle | run out (Kusal Mendis) | 80 | 61 | 7 | 0 | 131.15 |
| Liton Das | c Alex Ross b Hayden Kerr | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 114.29 |
| Shakib Al Hasan | c Hayden Kerr b Dhananjaya de Silva | 19 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 111.76 |
| Dasun Shanaka | c Hayden Kerr b Noor Ahmad | 12 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 150.00 |
| Najibullah Zadran | c Dushan Hemantha b Noor Ahmad | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Lahiru Samarakoon | b Hayden Kerr | 15 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 125.00 |
| Seekkuge Prasanna | run out (Dushan Hemantha) | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 160.00 |
| Lahiru Kumara | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Hayden Kerr | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Kasun Rajitha | not out | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Tabraiz Shamsi | lbw b Hasan Ali | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 2 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 146/10 (20 Overs, RR: 7.3) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binura Fernando | 4 | 0 | 33 | 1 | 8.25 | |
| Hasan Ali | 3 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 9.33 | |
| Hayden Kerr | 3 | 0 | 18 | 3 | 6.00 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 4 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 7.25 | |
| Noor Ahmad | 4 | 0 | 27 | 2 | 6.75 | |
| Dushan Hemantha | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 5.50 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avishka Fernando | st Liton Das b Shakib Al Hasan | 24 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 171.43 |
| Kusal Mendis | lbw b Tabraiz Shamsi | 49 | 45 | 6 | 0 | 108.89 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | c Najibullah Zadran b Seekkuge Prasanna | 13 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 86.67 |
| Kusal Janith | c & b Dasun Shanaka | 53 | 39 | 4 | 3 | 135.90 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | not out | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Alex Ross | not out | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Extras | 5 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 147/4 (19.4 Overs, RR: 7.47) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasun Rajitha | 3 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 12.33 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 3 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 5.33 | |
| Shakib Al Hasan | 4 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 5.75 | |
| Seekkuge Prasanna | 4 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 5.50 | |
| Tabraiz Shamsi | 4 | 0 | 37 | 1 | 9.25 | |
| Lahiru Samarakoon | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Dasun Shanaka | 0.4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2.50 | |
<<< Lanka Premier League 2023 >>>
 at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.){kind=link}