Phil Salt sets up big win for Dambulla Giants

Phil Salt hammered 64 in 27 balls and Nuwan Pradeep and Ramesh Mendis picked up three wickets each as Dambulla Giants beat Kandy Warriors by 20 runs in the second match of the Lanka Premier League played at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Monday.

In reply to Giants’ 190 runs, Warriors could post only 170 as Padeep and Mendis shared six wickets between them.

Phil Salt was the Player of the Match for his 64 which was inclusive of four fours and five sixes. “I’m just going out there trying to play positive cricket,” he said. “I know from playing out here a few times that the new ball doesn’t stay new for very long, and you’ve got to make the best of it.”

Salt and Niroshan Dickwella gave a superb start to the tournament for Giants as they put on 97 runs together in the first 7.4 overs. From that point on, it was always going to be tough for Warriors. Dickwella scored 37 runs inclusive of six fours. Skipper Dasun Shanaka chipped in with 24 runs while Ramesh Mendis hit an unbeaten 22 runs in 11 balls.

Warriors did fight with the bat thanks largely to Rovman Powell’s 42 off 21, but the best they could do was get close enough so their net run rate wasn’t too badly damaged.

Scores:

Dambulla Giants  190 for 7 in 20 overs

(Niroshan Dickwella 37, Phil Salt 64, Dasun Shanaka 24, Ramesh Mendis 22n.o.; Lahiru Kumara 3/34, Al-Amin Hossain 2/36) 

Kandy Warriors 170 for 8 in 20 overs

(Angelo Perera 24, Rovman Powell 42, Sachindu Colombage 27; Nuwan Pradeep 3/31, Ramesh Mendis 3/21)