PALLEKELE: Colombo Kaps led by Kamindu Mendis joined Galle Gallants and Jaffna Kings for Play-offs of the Lanka Premier League sixth edition when they beat Dambulla Sixers by four wickets in the second match played at the Pallekele Cricket Stadium yesterday.
The result saw Colombo Kaps move to third place in the standings leaving Kandy Royals (6 points) and Dambulla Sixers (4 points) to fight it out for the fourth Play-off place.
What was quite evident in Colombo Kaps’ run chase for 175 was the approach of their entire batting line-up. They unleashed a brutal assault on the Dambulla Sixers bowlers and despite losing wickets kept finding the boundaries consistently so that their asking rate was never out of reach.
Player of the Match Rubin Hermann (48 off 26 balls, 8 fours, 1 six) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (26 off 16 balls) put on 47 for the first wicket off 27 balls. But it was the partnership of 70 off 44 balls between Ben McDermott (33 off 22) and skipper Kamindu Mendis (39 off 28) that really put the lid on the run chase.
Colombo Kaps suffered a mild hiccup when they lost four wickets for eight runs but it didn’t dent them psychologically and what we witnessed was a plethora of eye-catching stroke-play that saw them home with an over to spare.
Dushmantha Chameera, Sonal Dinusha and Sikander Raza tried their best to curtail the run rate and pick up some wickets but in the final analysis Dambulla Sixers found that they were probably 20-30 runs short.
Reeza Hendricks led Dambulla Sixers charge with a scintillating knock of 80 off 54 balls (9 fours, 3 sixes) sharing an 83-run stand off 56 balls with Sikandar Raza (23). Gulbadin Naib’s 13-ball cameo for 33 (4 fours, 2 sixes) gave them a decent total of 174-5 to defend.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman was right on top of his game, barely giving an inch away and keeping things exceptionally tight with his crafty spin – his four overs going only for 16 runs and a wicket. Wanuja Sahan and Malsha Tharupathi also held up their end with disciplined spells.
Scores:
Dambulla Sixers 174-5 (20) (Reeza Hendricks 80, Sikandar Raza 23, Gulbadin Naib 33*, Shahnawaz Dhani 2/41) vs. Colombo Kaps 177-6 (19) (Rubin Hermann 48, Sadeera Samarawickrama 26, Ben McDermott 33, Kamindu Mendis 40, Dushmantha Chameera 2/32, Akila Dananjaya 2/32)