B-Love Kandy Outclass Dambulla Aura In Final To Clinch Lanka Premier League 2023 Title
Sri Lankan veteran Angelo Mathews won the fourth season of the Lanka Premier League for his team B-Love Kandy, defeating Dambulla Aura in the final.
Mathews didn't have a very fire innings, but his 21-ball 25 was enough for his team to win by five wickets and a ball.
Kamindu Mendis ended up being the leading scorer with 44 runs, laying the groundwork for the Mathews-led side's run chase.
Kamindu first added 49 runs for the first wicket with Mohammad Haris before adding 45 runs with Dinesh Chandimal before being caught by Noor Ahmad.
Haris scored 26 runs, while Chandimal scored 24 runs and Noor took three wickets, with Binura Fernando taking two wickets for Dambulla. Mathews was named Player of the Match for his brief but effective innings.
"I had to draw on all of my previous 15 years of experience." I had to be cool. We knew the wicket was good and that the total might be reached. All we had to do was be calm. The last two hitters, Asif Ali and Lahiru Madushanka, were outstanding. God has been gracious to us; we completed the task despite several injuries.
The support team deserves credit for creating an environment in which we could go and enjoy the game even after losing a few. The bowlers were excellent, but it was not a 147-wicket victory. It played pretty nicely; the odd one turned a little and some stayed low, but it was still quite good.
Everyone has to raise their hand. "The last three games for us were back to back and physically draining," he stated at the post-game presentation.
Earlier, Dambulla chose to bat first and achieved only 147/4 in 20 overs, a score that was always troubling in a tournament final.
Dhananjaya de Silva (40) and Kusal Perera (31*) put on a 63-run fourth-wicket stand to assist their team reach the daunting target.
Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama contributed 22 and 36 points, respectively, to keep things going in the middle but couldn't stop the run rate from climbing.
Chaturanga de Silva took two wickets for Kandy, while Nuwan Pradeep and Mohammad Hasnain both took one.
After losing their last league game, Kandy fought back to win their final three games, including the Eliminator and second Qualifier, to claim the silverware.