Stars vs Aura, 5th Match at Hambantota, LPL, Dec 08 2022 - Ball by Ball Commentary

6:50pm Right. That will be a wrap from us for today. There are no games scheduled for tomorrow but the action does return on Saturday, with the Jaffna Kings taking on the Kandy Falcons at 7:30pm (local time). Do join us for this top of the table clash. Till then, this is me (Shashwat) signing off on behalf of Sudeep and Vairavan. Goodbye, take care!

Angelo Mathews, Colombo Stars captain: (On the batting effort) It was a pretty decent batting effort after the bad start we had. Niroshan was looking to score runs and that was the intent we wanted to show today. (All-pace attack) I thought the seamers were brilliant. They are very experienced and they bowled exactly the way they needed to bowl. It was a shocker of a performance in the first game. It can happen to any team and good it happened to us in the first game. We are professionals and we try to do our best, and sometimes it (bad performances) happens. Overall, very happy with our performance today.

Dasun Shanaka, Dambulla Aura captain: (Bowling effort) We started really well and in the middle phase, we did not bowl well. There was not much wicket-taking bowling in the middle. 165 was still a good total on this wicket. (On the batting) It is simple. It is all about partnerships. I asked the players to stay with me but they did not listen to me. It is a major concern with the batsmen and we need to rectify it in the next game.

Niroshan Dickwella, Player of the Match: (Highlight of the innings) It was not an easy wicket to bat in the first half. I had to minimise my risk and continue batting with Ravi, and that was the highlight. I want to go game by game and want to do something for the team. I always want to be in the winning side and I want to win matches for my team.

Time for the post-match presentation!

6:36pm Phew, that was some game. It ebbed and flowed throughout, with the Colombo Stars eventually holding their nerve to emerge victorious. The Stars were also very judicious with the usage of their bowling resources, using as many as eight bowlers and capitalizing on favourable match-ups. They also made the most of the ground dimensions, and ensured that Dambulla were, more often than not, hitting into the wind. This victory, apart from giving them two points, will give them the confidence that they can hold their own this season and mount a sustained title challenge.

Plenty to ponder for Dambulla, though, who managed to starve their skipper of the strike. Shanaka, despite being at the crease for a chunk of the innings, only faced 20 balls and that ultimately cost them the game. Prior to that, they did well to recover with the ball and restrict the Stars to 165, which on this surface, looked pretty gettable. Having said that, they would be ruing how they did not seize the crucial moments, and they would want to rectify that as soon as possible moving forward.

Janat needs to bowl a legitimate delivery and the Stars will win

Right. It has come down to this. 23 runs needed off the final six balls. Shanaka needs a couple of sixes in the first half of the over. If he hits to the leg side, he will be hitting against the wind. Janat to bowl the final over

Right. Shanaka finally back on strike now. 25 needed off nine balls though. He needs a couple of boundaries here.

26 needed off 10 balls now. Should Ratnayake look for the single instead of the big shot?

Dambulla will believe as long as Shanaka is at the crease. The problem, though, is that he has not been facing enough balls in the past few overs. 30 needed off 2 overs now

Shanaka has faced just one ball this over. Surely Ratnayake has to play in even numbers this ball?

Around the wicket to Ratnayake

Lakmal to bowl out

The equation is getting trickier for Dambulla and they need their captain to stand up. Ideally, Shanaka would have wanted to take it as deep as possible. But with Dambulla losing wickets regularly, he might not have that luxury