Kandy Falcons register a convincing win against Dambulla Sixers

The opening game of the Lanka Premier League 2024 was definitely an enticing encounter in which Kandy Falcons managed to come up with a convincing win against Dambulla Sixers by 6 wickets with 16 balls remaining at Pallekele.

Opting to bowl first, their call was vindicated as they restricted Dambulla Sixers to 179/4 in their quota of 20 overs. Mark Chapman played an anchor role with his scintillating 91 not out off 61 balls and was well complemented by Chamindu Wickramasinghe’s belligerent 62 not out off 42 deliveries. Dasun Shanaka starred with the ball for the Falcons, returning figures of 3 for 20 in his 4 overs to put the brakes on the early momentum gained by the Sixers.

In reply, the Falcons did get off to a shaky start with the loss of Andre Fletcher early, but Dinesh Chandimal’s explosive 65 off 40 balls set the tone for their chase. The contributions from Kamindu Mendis’ 27 and Angelo Mathews’ 37 not out ensured that the Falcons kept up a good pace.

However, the fabulous cameo that Dasun Shanaka played—46 not out off 15 balls, including 3 fours and 5 sixes—is what amazed everyone by keeping those ups and downs flowing in style to the very end to seal the victory for Kandy. His all-round performances suited him well to the Player of the Match award for his match-turning contributions at the crease and with the ball.

The bowlers of the Sixers found it tough to stem the run flow against an onslaught by the Falcons. Mustafizur Rahman, Nuwan Thushara, and Akila Dananjaya picked up one wicket each but failed to contain the Falcons, who were scoring at a big rate.

This comprehensive win set the tone up front in the tournament for Kandy Falcons, with quite a powerful blend of power-hitting and disciplined bowling. On the other hand, Dambulla Giants will need to regroup quickly and thereby rectify their bowling and fielding lapses to make a comeback in the upcoming matches of the Lanka Premier League 2024.