Avishka guides Dambulla Aura to table top

Skipper Dasun Shanaka played lone hand for Galle Titans making top score of 36 Avishka Fernando led run chase for Dambulla Aura with unbeaten 70

• Galle Titans suffer fourth straight defeat

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

The R. Premadasa Stadium continued to be not conducive to stroke-making when it witnessed another low scoring game of the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL) yesterday where the ball dominated over the bat with only 267 runs being scored by both sides.

Dambulla Aura beat Galle Titans by seven wickets to go to the top of the table with eight points, but it was not a game that reached any great heights because the wicket was two-paced and the surface did too much for a T20 game of cricket. In fact, there were 95 dot balls bowled in the match.  

For Dasun Shanaka-led Galle Titans, it was their fourth straight defeat in a row and they will need something special to lift themselves from the bottom of the table in their last two matches.

A total of 133-9 was not enough for Galle to defend as they found out for themselves, although there were times when they could have tightened up the game. What they needed to put the pressure back on Dambulla was wickets, but they could manage only three because Avishka Fernando held up one end scoring well-paced out 70* off 49 balls (3 fours, 3 sixes) to see his side home with 14 balls to spare. Fernando was not at his usual flamboyant best but he hung in there to carve out a half-century and ensure victory for his side.

Dambulla who won the toss and decided to field first executed their plans very well, to keep Galle down to a moderate total through their six bowlers who were all successful. They bowled so well and kept everything so tight that Galle could not put together any meaningful partnerships. That Dambulla even managed to get up to 133 was due to some lusty hitting by the skipper Shanaka who scored a quick-fire 36 off 26 balls (5 fours) but the innings fell away soon after his dismissal.

An opening stand of 48 between Fernando and Kusal Mendis got the Dambulla innings underway, and even though Lahiru Kumara playing his first LPL match this year struck twice and Shakib Al Hasan picked up the wicket of Kusal Perera cheaply, there was no denying Dambulla the win as they had the game well under their control.   

Scores: Galle Titans 133-9 (20) (Chad Bowes 22, Dasun Shanaka 36, Dushan Hemantha 2/31)

Dambulla Aura 134-3 (17.4) (Avishka Fernando 70*, Sadeera Samarawickrama 25, Lahiru Kumara 2/31)