And with that, it's a wrap for today's proceedings. There will now be a couple of days break, and the action will pick up again on the 17th Saturday from Colombo, when Dambulla take on Galle and Kandy take on Colombo. But until then, on behalf of Fidel, it's Madushka signing off!
Winning captain Angelo Mathews: "We know we need to improve in all three departments, because we're now heading into the business end of the tournament. We need to fine tune all the areas. [Colombo] We'll look at the wickets first and see what we can do, but I think we've played really good cricket over the last couple of days. [turning point?] Firstly I think the belief in the camp - we knew we had the players and talent in the camp, we just had to get the combinations right, get the batting order right. And I think the first win gave us a lot of hope. Then we came to Kandy and lost the first one, but I thought we played good cricket. We've improved each and every game. And obviously winning gives you confidence, momentum is huge."
Losing captain Dasun Shanaka: "It hurts, but the brand of cricket we play is very poor. That's what we need to admit. I think the youngsters haven't grabbed the opportunities, while the senior guys haven't played to their potential. Compared to the other sides, our combination is also not the best. That's something we need to look at before coming in to a tournament such as this."
Player of the Match is Kasun Rajitha: "I'm very happy with my performance of course. But it's also a big win for our team. I'm always trying to stick to the basics, and that worked out for me today. Our team is doing well now, and I hope we can carry this form forward."
Time for the presentation ceremony
10.07pm Handshakes all around, and smiles all around - well for the Stars at least. For Dambulla this has been yet another day to forget, and it started from pretty much the very first delivery of the game, when Lasith Croospulle chopped one on from Kasun Rajitha. But Rajitha wouldn't stop there, as he would proceed to run riot, bulldozing his way through the Dambulla batting order. On a track that had a little for everyone, Rajitha maximised the swing on offer on his way to figures of 5 for 22, and ensured Aura lost no less than 7 wickets inside the powerplay. Aura would eventually fold for 89, and Stars would have little trouble hunting those down - even though Niroshan Dickwella was cleaned up first ball.
1 needed to win.
Well this most definitely should be the last over. Here's Noor.
END OF OVER:11 | 11 Runs | CLS: 88/1 (2 runs required from 54 balls, RR: 8.00, RRR: 0.22)
- Charith Asalanka57 (34b)
- Dinesh Chandimal30 (31b)
- Chaturanga de Silva1-0-11-0
- Lahiru Kumara3-0-27-0
one shot away from the win.
Chaturanga de Silva to have a bowl with his slow left arm spin
13 more needed. Can they finish it off this over?
END OF OVER:10 | 19 Runs | CLS: 77/1 (13 runs required from 60 balls, RR: 7.70, RRR: 1.30)
- Dinesh Chandimal29 (30b)
- Charith Asalanka47 (29b)
- Lahiru Kumara3-0-27-0
- Noor Ahmad3-0-23-0
JOYDEEP GILL: "Now stars need chase this target before 12 overs in order to boost their nrr " Perhaps this nugget was shared during the timeout.
Kumara to continue. 32 needed off 66.
END OF OVER:9 | 7 Runs | CLS: 58/1 (32 runs required from 11 overs, RR: 6.44, RRR: 2.90)
- Charith Asalanka34 (25b)
- Dinesh Chandimal23 (28b)
- Noor Ahmad3-0-23-0
- Lahiru Kumara2-0-8-0
And with that it's time for a Strategic Timeout. Penny for Mickey's thoughts?
James L: "Thought the Starts were going to improve their Run Rate, 6 off the last 16 balls? " Yeah this pair started off looking to go hard, but think they've now settled down into merely knocking them off with singles.
They're checking upstairs for a stumping here.
