Pallekele,
Dubai Giants continued their impressive form in the ongoing Legends Cricket Trophy (LCT) as they defeated Kandy Samp Army by 56 runs at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele. While Punjab Royals hammered Colombo Lions by 8 wickets in the first match on a super Friday.
Kandy Samp Army won the toss and invited Dubai Giants to bat first. Despite losing opener Richard Levi for 6 runs, Dubai Giants found support in the form of Shaun Marsh who led the batting attack by example.
The former Australian cricketer took the opposition bowling attack to the cleaners by hitting 53 off 27 balls including 8 fours and 2 sixes at a healthy strike rate of 196.33. Saurabh Tiwary also expressed himself in the best possible way as he scored 47 off 20 balls.
In the end, Dubai Giants registered a humongous total of 190/7 in 90 balls, which is the highest-ever total achieved by a team so far in LCT 2024.
Kandy Samp Army’s bowlers were sloppy as they failed to contain runs on the match day. Tino Best accounted for 3 dismissals, giving away 40 runs whereas Chris Mpofu took 2 wickets, conceding 38 runs.
Samp Army didn’t recover from the main batter’s dismissal as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals before losing the game. The Dubai Giants won the game by 56 runs as Kandy Samp Army ended up with 134/8. With this win, Dubai Giants move on top of the LCT 2024 points table with 8 points, which will give them a great deal of confidence in the build-up to the final.
In the first match of the day, it was yet another disastrous day at the office for Colombo Lions as they still remain winless in the LCT 2024. Despite having marquee players like Chris Gayle, Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor in their armoury, they lacked the tenacity to churn out a result in their favour so far in the competition.
Colombo Lions suffered their fourth-straight defeat of the season, with their most recent loss coming against Punjab Royals. Punjab Royals comfortably aced the run-chase and won the game by 8 wickets to pick up their third win of this season to sit fourth on the table with six points.
Batting first, Colombo Lions mustered 127/8 in 90 balls. Ben Dunk who has been an in-form batter for the Lions top-scored with 39 off 21 balls, laced with 6 fours and 2 sixes. Robbie Frylinck provided a great deal of support down the order with his 30 off 21 (3 fours, 1 six).
In response, Punjab Royals chased down the target without any hiccups in 74 balls. Dilshan Munaweera was the pick of the batters as he top-scored with 47 off 26 balls including seven fours and a six whereas captain Tillakaratne Dilshan accumulated 43 off 29 balls including 4 fours and 2 sixes.
Brief scores
Match 14
Colombo Lions – 127/8 (90 balls) – Ben Dunk – 39 (21); Milinda Siriwardana – 1/16
Punjab Royals – 133/2 (74 balls) – Dilshan Munaweera – 47 (26); Javon Searles – 4/28
Match 15
Dubai Giants – 190/7 (90 balls) – Shaun Marsh – 53 (27); Sachith Pathirana – 4/21
Kandy Samp Army – 134/8 (90 balls) Kevin O Brien – 52 (24); Tino Best – 3/40