On Friday, March 15, Punjab Royals and Colombo Lions met in the 14th match of Legends Cricket Trophy 2024 while Kandy Samp Army and Dubai Giants in the next game.
Dubai secured the first spot after their 56-run win against Kandy Samp Army. They have now won four out of five matches along with a positive Net Run Rate (NRR) of +1.221.
Rajasthan Kings and New York Superstar Strikers share similar records with three victories in four matches. They have close NRRs of +2.192 and +2.187, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Royals defeated Colombo in the previous match. They moved from fifth to fourth spot while Kandy Samp Army after their previous loss switched places with Royals and secured the fifth position.
Delhi Devils and Colombo Lions continue to languish at the bottom of the points table, respectively, having lost all four games.
Searles, Dilshan, and Munaweera power Punjab to third win; Thisara's all-round brilliance secures Giants’ top spot
Punjab Royals won the toss in the first game and opted to bowl first. They restricted the Colombo Lions to 127/8. Ben Dunk (39) and Robbie Frylinck (30) were the top scorers from the Lions’ batting lineup. Captain Asghar Afghan also scored a handy knock of 22 runs off 18 deliveries.
Javon Searles was the wrecker-in-chief with a four-fer while Punjab’s captain Tilkaratne Dilshan took two wickets in three overs. S Sreesanth and Monty Panesar claimed a wicket each.
In the second game, Kandy Samp Army also elected to field first but the Dubai Giants’ batters wreaked havoc against their bowlers.
Shaun Marsh scored a fine half-century off 27 balls, despite Richard Levi’s early dismissal. Gurkeerat Singh contributed 28 runs, Saurabh Tiwary managed 47 off just 20 deliveries, and Thisara Perera added 28 runs to the total. However, the remaining batters struggled, resulting in a total of 190/7.
Tino Best claimed three wickets, with Chris Mpofu adding two to the tally. Rahul Shukla and Jon-Russ Jaggesar also contributed with a wicket each.
In response, Kevin O'Brien set the tone for Kandy Samp Army with a rapid 52 off just 24 deliveries. However, wickets fell at regular intervals following Kevin's departure. Despite a late effort from Chris Mpofu, who scored 28 off 15 in the lower order, Kandy Samp Army fell 56 runs short of the target.
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