Dambulla Aura beat Galle Gladiators by 48 runs in the 15th match of the Lanka Premier League 2022 played today (17th December), at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.
Dambulla Aura Skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and opted to bat first in the must-win encounter, with five changes to their playing XI from previous game.
Dambulla Aura (Playing XI): Shevon Daniel, Jordan Cox, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka(w/c), Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Ravindu Fernando, Sikandar Raza, Matt Ford, Dilum Sudeera, Pramod Madushan, Noor Ahmad
Galle Gladiators (Playing XI): Thanuka Dabare, Kusal Mendis(w/c), Lahiru Udara, Asad Shafiq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Nuwanidu Fernando, Wahab Riaz, Nuwan Thushara, Nuwan Pradeep, Lakshan Sandakan
Dambulla opening pair Jordan Cox and Shevon Daniel got their team off to an excellent start, adding a century partnership for the first wicket. The duo added 163 runs off 106 balls, renewing the record books with the highest partnership for any wicket in LPL history.
Both the openers went onto score their maiden LPL half-centuries. Daniel made 80 runs off 55 balls with 5 fours and 5 sixes, while Cox chipped in with 77 runs off 58 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes.
With the kind of partnership seen between the openers, Dambulla Aura could have gotten closer to 200, but the Galle bowlers pulled things back towards the end overs. From 163/0 – Dambulla Aura slipped to 178/5 at the end of 20 overs.
However, it was a challenging total and a much better batting performance by the Dambulla team compared to their previous outings in the tournament. The speedster Pradeep claimed 3 wickets, but the rest of the bowlers proved to be slightly expensive for Gladiators.
It turned out to be a stiff target for Galle Gladiators as they lost 4 early wickets in the powerplay. No. 3 and No. 4 batters Shafiq and Udara had a handy partnership, but it was nothing much to set them apart from the rest of the batters as they fell short of the target by 48 runs.
The opening fast bowler Pramod Madushan was the pick of the bowlers for Dambulla Aura as he bagged 3 wickets for 17 runs. Most of the Dambulla bowlers chipped in with useful contributions as they finally open their account with a win ending their 5-mach losing streak.
Brief Scores
Dambulla Aura – 178/5 (20) Shevon Daniel 80, Jordan Cox 77, Nuwan Pradeep 3/37
Galle Gladiators – 130 (19.4) Lahiru Udara 32, Asad Shafiq 28, Iftikhar Ahmed 21, Pramod Madushan 3/17, Sikandar Raza 2/05
Result – Dambulla Aura won by 48 runs
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shevon Daniel | c Pulina Tharanga b Nuwan Pradeep | 80 | 55 | 5 | 5 | 145.45 |
| Jordan Cox | c Nuwanidu Fernando b Nuwan Thushara | 77 | 58 | 6 | 3 | 132.76 |
| Dasun Shanaka | c Lahiru Udara b Nuwan Pradeep | 12 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 240.00 |
| Bhanuka Rajapaksha | c Pulina Tharanga b Nuwan Pradeep | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Sikandar Raza | run out (Imad Wasim) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Matthew Forde | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 9 (b 4 , lb 2 , nb 2, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 178/5 (20 Overs, RR: 8.9) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imad Wasim | 4 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 9.50 | |
| Nuwan Thushara | 4 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 7.25 | |
| Nuwan Pradeep | 3 | 0 | 37 | 3 | 12.33 | |
| Wahab Riaz | 3 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 9.33 | |
| Lakshan Sandakan | 3 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 5.33 | |
| Thanuka Dabare | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8.00 | |
| Iftikhar Ahmed | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 8.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thanuka Dabare | c Shevon Daniel b Pramod Madushan | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 80.00 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Pramod Madushan b Dasun Shanaka | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Lahiru Udara | c Jordan Cox b Matthew Forde | 32 | 32 | 4 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Asad Shafiq | c Dasun Shanaka b Pramod Madushan | 28 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 200.00 |
| Nuwanidu Fernando | run out (Jordan Cox) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 166.67 |
| Iftikhar Ahmed | c Ravindu Fernando b Sikandar Raza | 21 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Imad Wasim | b Noor Ahmad | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 42.86 |
| Wahab Riaz | c Jordan Cox b Dilum Sudeera | 13 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 162.50 |
| Lakshan Sandakan | b Pramod Madushan | 4 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Nuwan Pradeep | c Shevon Daniel b Sikandar Raza | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 111.11 |
| Nuwan Thushara | not out | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Extras | 9 (b 1 , lb 4 , nb 1, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 130/10 (19.4 Overs, RR: 6.61) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dasun Shanaka | 3 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 3.33 | |
| Pramod Madushan | 2.4 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 7.08 | |
| Chamindu Wickramasinghe | 1 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18.00 | |
| Matthew Forde | 2 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 11.50 | |
| Dilum Sudeera | 4 | 0 | 35 | 1 | 8.75 | |
| Noor Ahmad | 4 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 4.25 | |
| Sikandar Raza | 3 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 1.67 | |
, at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo. ){kind=link}