COLOMBO: Ben McDermott’s unbeaten half-century and Hasan Ali’s three-for powered Dambulla Aura to a crushing 50-run victory over Colombo Strikers in the 16th game of the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL) on Saturday.
Dambulla Aura, having already booked their place in the playoffs of the LPL, comfortably sit at the top of the points table. Whereas, Colombo Strikers sank to the bottom of the LPL points table.
Opting to bat first, Dambulla Aura found themselves in trouble as they slumped to 24-3 in the fifth over.
Coming out to bat at number five, Ben McDermott put on a brief 22-run partnership with Dhananjaya de Silva before the latter perished.
Alex Ross joined McDermott at the crease with the scoreboard reading 46/4 and launched an astounding recovery for the Aura.
The pair batted sensibly under the pressure before taking the bowlers head-on.
They knitted a solid 102 runs partnership off 71 deliveries before Ross was caught behind off Matheesha Pathirana soon after amassing his half-century.
Alex Ross’s 38-ball 52 featured five boundaries and two sixes, while Ben McDermott remained unbeaten at 69 runs off 46 balls with the help of four boundaries and as many sixes.
This partnership helped Dambulla Aura reach a commendable total of 166 in 20 overs.
Matheesha Pathirana topped the bowling charts for Colombo Strikers with two wickets, while Naseem Shah, Chamika Karunaratne and Jeffrey Vandersay chipped in with one wicket each.
Set to chase 167, Colombo Strikers, too, had a poor start to their innings as they were reduced to 55-3 in the sixth over when Hasan Ali sent Babar Azam packing.
Babar could score 11 off 13 deliveries.
Angelo Perera soon followed the footsteps of star batter as Noor Ahmed trapped him out lbw.
Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Nawaz then put on a cautious 28-run stand and attempted to anchor the run chase.
However, Aura bowlers kept the pair under check and soon got the reward as Iftikhar was cleaned up by Dushan Hemantha at a total of 102.
Iftikhar failed to clear the rope even once during his cautious 18 off 26.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Nawaz scored 20 off 24 with the help of two boundaries before falling to Noor Ahmed.
Following Iftikhar’s departure, the Strikers’ innings soon collapsed at a total of 116, thanks to clinical bowling Dambulla Aura.
Hasan Ali picked up three wickets for 16 runs, while Dushman Hemantha, Noor Ahmed and Binura Fernando picked up two wickets each.
Colombo Strikers will face B-Love Kandy tonight in the 18th game of LPL, whereas, Dambulla Aura will face B-Love Kandy on Monday in their final LPL group fixture.