COLOMBO – Ravi Rampaul’s three-wicket haul laid the ideal platform for a Colombo Stars win but they came up short with the bat to crash to an agonising one-run defeat to Sherfane Rutherford’s Dambulla Giants in the Lanka Premier League in Sri Lanka on Saturday.
Lying bottom of the five-team standings with a single win in four outings, Stars appeared favourites when West Indies seamer Rampaul’s three for 27 restricted the league leaders to 138 for nine off their 20 overs.
However, despite veteran Dinesh Chandimal’s unbeaten 65 off 40 deliveries, Stars failed to overhaul their target, slumping to their third defeat in four outings.
They needed 13 runs from the last over and then six off the final delivery but Chandimal could only pull fast bowler Chamika Karunaratne to the square boundary.
Choosing to bat first at the R Premadasa Stadium, Giants were carried by opener Niroshan Dickwella’s 30 from 16 balls and Sohaib Maqsood’s 24 from 22 deliveries.
Dickwella put on 48 for the first wicket with Englishman Phil Salt (21) before Maqsood added a further 33 for the third wicket with Tharindu Ratnayake (5).
Rampaul, whose first two overs cost 15 runs, returned to take all three of his wickets at the back end – including two in the final over.
In reply, Stars were floundering on 38 for four in the eighth over when left-hander Rutherford perished for four to a catch at the wicket, trying to steer one from spinner Ratnayake (3-18).
Chandimal then arrived to blast four fours and three sixes, adding 32 for the fifth wicket with Dhananjaya de Silva (33) and 37 for the seventh over with Seekkuge Prasanna (7), to take Stars within touching distance of their total.
CMC
