PALLEKELE (Agencies): Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s astonishing figures of 2/17 followed by Dinesh Chandimal’s 48 bolstered B-Love Kandy to claim their maiden victory in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2023.
Bottom-ranked B-Love Kandy put on all-round show to beat second-placed Dambulla Aura by seven wickets and nine balls to spare.
B-Love Kandy openers Fakhar Zaman and Dinesh Chandimal scripted a solid start for the pursuit with a magnificent 67-run partnership.
Fakhar, who batted cautiously for his 26-ball 28, which featured five boundaries, was the first to fall when he chipped one back to Dhananjaya de Silva in the eighth over.
Chandimal then put on a brief 30-run partnership with Kamindu Mendis before he got run out with B-Love Kandy still requiring 58 for victory off 53 balls. He smashed seven boundaries on his way to top score for B-Love Kandy with a 29-ball 48.
Following Mendis’s dismissal in the 16th over, Mathews was joined by explosive batter Asif Ali and the pair made sure there were no hiccups in the run-chase and took B-Love Kandy home in the 19th over.
The pair put on an unbeaten 31-run partnership, dominated by Ali, who scored a quickfire 16 off eight while Mathews remained unbeaten on a 20-ball 28. Hayden Kerr and Dhananjaya de Silva could pick up a wicket for Dambulla Aura.
Earlier, after opting to bat first, Dambulla Aura could score 156/6 in 20 overs despite Dhananjaya de Silva’s quick half-century. The right-handed batter smashed five boundaries and three sixes and top-scored for the Aura with a 39-ball 61.
The next notable run-getters for the Aura were Avishka Fernando (32) and Alex Ross (21) while the rest made meagre contributions.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Isuru Udana led the bowling attack for B-Love Kandy with two wickets each while Mohammad Hasnain and Dushmantha Chameera made one scalp apiece. Despite a convincing seven-wicket victory, B-Love Kandy remained at the bottom in the LPL 2023 standings while Dambulla Aura managed to get behold of their second position.
