Change of location brings B-Love Kandy luck

 Fakhar Zaman and Dinesh Chandimal put B-Love Kandy on the track to victory with and opening stand of 69

• Beat Dambulla Aura by seven wickets to register first win

A change of location brought luck for B-Love Kandy who registered their first win of the ongoing Lanka Premier League with a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Dambulla Aura in the first double-header played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Kandy was the only team without a win at the end of the Colombo leg and in their hometown finally got their act together to get their first points on the board. The pep talk the team received prior to the match from their head coach former Pakistan leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed seemed to have rubbed on the players.

“Don’t’ lose the belief and don’t let it go away from you,” said Mushtaq. “You have to do the basics and processes right all the time. If you do that you still have a chance. We still have six games, if we win at least four or even three, we still have a chance of qualifying. Once the luck comes to our side, you will remember my words. We will be playing in the finals soon.”

Despite a brilliant knock from Dhananjaya de Silva that carried Dambulla to 156-6, Kandy rode on the opening stand of 69 off eight overs between Fakhar Zaman (28) playing in his first match after arriving on Monday afternoon and Dinesh Chandimal (48 off 29 balls, 7 fours) to overhaul that total with nine balls to spare. Angelo Mathews (28* off 20 balls, 2 fours, 1 six) and Asif Ali (16* off 8 balls, 3 fours) saw Kandy home amidst celebrations in the dressing room.

De Silva actually rescued the Dambulla innings from total collapse after they choose to bat first. Coming to bat at the fall of the third wicket at 35, De Silva played an innings of controlled aggression to take Dambulla past the 150-run mark. His innings of 61 off 31 balls inclusive of five fours and three sixes gave Dambulla some breathing space after Kandy’s spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and skipper Wanindu Hasaranga had strangled them conceding 40 runs in eight overs for two wickets. It was the Kandy seamers who leaked the runs with Dushmantha Chameera making a comeback to competitive cricket after injury conceding 40 in his four overs for one wicket. Avishka Fernando who contributed 32 to Dambulla’s total reached a landmark in LPL becoming the first player to reach 1,000 runs. He was playing in his 32nd match. – (ST) 

Scores: Dambulla Aura 156-6 (20) (Avishka Fernando 32, Dhananjaya de Silva 61, Alex Ross 21, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2/17, Isuru Udana 2/33)

B-Love Kandy 160-3 (18.3) (Fakhar Zaman 28, Dinesh Chandimal 48, Angelo Mathews 28*)