Angelo Perera, Shanaka steer Dambulla to victory

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Dambulla Viikings came up with a fine all-round performance to beat Kandy Tuskers by five wickets at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium yesterday and move to second spot in the My11Circle Lanka Premier League (LPL) table behind Jaffna Stallions with their third win.

Dambulla’s victory was constructed by their spinners and the batting of Angelo Perera and skipper Dasun Shanaka who saw their team home in a stand of 79 off eight overs.

Kandy’s subpar score of 156-6 was never going to pose a big threat to Dambulla although they were at one time were in a bit of a pickle at 56-3 in the ninth over. But Shanaka – the batsman in form –and Perera – promoted up the order – upped the run rate, and although they fell within the space of seven balls of each other, Dambulla scrambled home with four balls to spare scoring 157-5.

Perera played a controlled innings to top score with a delightful 67 off 49 balls that comprised three sixes and five fours to take the Man of the Match award, and Shanaka 33 off 23 balls.

It was Dambulla’s spin combination that put the skids on the Kandy batting, restricting them to a moderate total. Their spinners stifled and strangled Kandy so that they seldom had the freedom to score runs at will.

Malinda Pushpakumara, Ramesh Mendis and Samit Patel picked up four of the six Kandy wickets conceding 61 runs off 11 overs, that’s how good their control was.

Kandy batting first were off to a good start with Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Kusal Perera posting 33 off 23 balls for the first wicket. Following Gurbaz’s dismissal Perera stitched a further 58 runs stand with Kusal Mendis, but they were made to work hard for their runs using up 45 balls. Just when the batsmen were settling in Ramesh Mendis had Perera caught in the deep for 41 scored off 34 balls and then Pushpakumara struck twice in successive balls in the 17th over to send back Brendan Taylor (13) and Seekkuge Prasanna (0) as the Kandy middle order fell apart.

With the pressure increasing, Kusal Mendis – who had batted attractively for 55 off 45 balls – eventually succumbed, falling to Patel in the 18th over, and with it, Kandy’s hopes of setting a challenging total also disappeared.

Kandy’s losing captain Kusal Perera said that his team was 10-15 runs short of what would have been a challenging score on a track which he described as not a good batting track because the ball gripped and was slow. “We were planning for 175 plus but they bowled very well.”

Perera’s opposite number, Dasun Shanaka praised his bowlers for doing a tremendous job that enabled them to keep the Kandy total below par and the batting of Angelo Perera. “We all know how good he is, and he proved again the type of player he is,” he said.

Scores

Kandy Tuskers 156-6 (20) (Kusal Perera 41, Kusal Mendis 55, Kasun Rajitha 2/16, Malinda Pushpakumara 2/28)

Dambulla Viikings 157-5 (19.2) (Angelo Perera 67, Dasun Shanaka 33)