Cricket Highlights, 21 Aug: LPL 2023 (Final) – Dambulla Aura vs B-Love Kandy: B-Love Kandy is the new champion of the Lankan Premier League

Dambulla Aura vs B-Love Kandy (Final) – Highlights

B-Love Kandy has triumphed in the title of Lanka Premier League (LPL) for the first time after defeating Dambulla Aura in a breathtaking final match. They defeated Dambulla Aura by 5 wickets in the final on Sunday (August 20). It was the fourth season of the league. Jaffna Kings have won the trophy in all three editions of this tournament so far (2020, 2021, and 2022). This is the first time an exceptional case has been seen.

Winning the Toss, Dambulla Aura captain Kusal Mendis decided to bat first at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. They lost the wicket of Avishka Fernando (5) at the start of batting. Then Kusal and Sadeera Samarawickrama managed the situation nicely. These two batsmen made a partnership of 57 runs.  

Samarawickrama returned to the dressing room with a personal 36 runs. After a while, Kusal (22) returned to the pavilion. Then Kusal Perera and Dhananjaya de Silva formed another great pair. These two made a partnership of 63 runs. In the end, Dambulla Aura was able to score 147 runs losing 4 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs due to the controlled bowling of the B-Love Kandy bowlers. Which was the lowest score batting first in an LPL final.

Dhananjaya scored the most runs for the team. He played an innings of 40 runs off 29 balls with 3 sixes. On the other hand, Kusal Perera remained unbeaten with 31 runs. Chaturanga de Silva took the maximum number of 2 wickets for B-Love Kandy. Apart from this, Nuwan Pradeep and Mohammad Hasnain took 1 wicket each.

It was B-Love Kandy’s second match within 24 hours – the batsmen got off to a good start as they chased down 148 runs to win the title in the fourth edition of the Lanka Premier League. They picked up 94 runs, losing only one wicket in 12.3 overs. But after losing three wickets in the next four overs, B-Love Candy was in some danger. The team’s score stood at 111 runs for 4 wickets at the end of 16 overs.  

However, B-Love Kandy cruised to victory with one ball in hand thanks to an unbeaten 25-run innings from 21 balls by veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews, who was the captain in the final.

Mathews came to the wicket when the team needed 54 runs from 44 balls and had eight wickets in hand. Then the quick departure of Dinesh Chandimal (24) and Chaturanga (0) put B-Love Kandy under some pressure. Asif Ali (19 off 10), who was playing brilliantly, departed on the first ball of the 19th over. Mathews added 10 runs to the scoreboard by hitting two boundaries in that over.

As a result, 6 runs are needed from the last 6 balls to win. Mathews and Lahiru Madushanka were on the wicket. These two batsmen took 5 runs off the first four balls. Madushanka could not play the bouncer of pacer Pramod Madushan in the 5th ball. But the ball hit the edge of the bat and went over the keeper’s head to the boundary. Madushanka ran over and hugged teammate Mathews.

The other cricketers of the team rushed out of the dugout to celebrate with them. Wanindu Hasaranga left the chair and came down the stairs of the dressing room. He could not take part in the final due to injury. But he is the hero of the tournament.

Hasaranga, the hero of victory in the previous two matches in the playoffs and the regular captain of B-Love Kandy, missed the final due to a hamstring injury. However, this leg-spinning all-rounder is the highest scorer and highest wicket-taker of the tournament.

Hasaranga scored 279 runs at a strike rate of 189.79 in 9 innings of 10 matches. He hit the highest number of 14 sixes. He took 19 wickets with just 5.51 runs per over in 10 innings. Hasaranga picked up 6 wickets for just 9 runs in the eliminator match. No one else has 15 wickets in the tournament. Hasaranga’s team-mate pacer Nuwan Pradeep managed to pick up the second-highest 14 wickets.

Dambulla Aura vs B-Love Kandy Scoreboard

Dambulla Aura – 147/4 (20.0)

B-Love Kandy – 151/5 (19.5)

Result – B-Love Kandy won by 5 wickets

Player of the match – Angelo Mathews

Player of the series – Wanindu Hasaranga