Rajitha stars as Colombo secure much needed two points

Back to back wins at Pallekele have given Colombo Stars much needed momentum in the Lanka Premier League after a disappointing start in this year’s competition. Angelo Mathews’ side started off the tournament poorly losing three of their first four games, but at Pallekele they beat Dambulla Aura by nine wickets on Wednesday and Galle Gladiators by two wickets on Tuesday to get back into contention. All five teams travelled back to Colombo yesterday and today is a day off and the competition resumes on Saturday at RPS.

Colombo owed their win to fast bowler Kasun Rajitha who ran through the opposition to return career best figures of five for 22 as Damublla Aura were bowled out for 89 runs inside 14 overs. Rajitha was benched for Colombo’s first couple of games despite doing really well in the recent World Cup in Australia.

During the run chase, Niroshan Dickwella was dismissed for a first ball duck but an unbeaten 90 run stand for the second wicket helped them to reach the target with more than eight overs to spare. The big win enabled Colombo to improve on their Net Run Rate.

Kandy Falcons are leading the points table having secured ten points. They lost only one out of six matches so far. Wanindu Hasaranga’s side won three games straight before suffering a 12 run loss to Galle Gladiators. However, they found their momentum back winning their last two games.

Kandy Falcons have got two games left in the group stage but are certain of a semi-final berth. Dambulla Aura need a miracle to revive their campaign having lost all their five games so far. They have an outside chance of making it to the knockout stage by winning their last three games, however, their Net Run Rate of -2.5 could come back to haunt them even if they win their remaining games.

Dambulla will take on Galle Gladiators in the first game of Saturday while Kandy Falcons will play Colombo Stars in the second game. Jaffna Kings are second in the points table with eight points behind Kandy Falcons while Colombo Stars are third with six points. All three teams have played three games each. Galle Gladiators and Dambulla Aura have played five games each.