DHG vs CLS 5th Match Prediction

DHG vs CLS Team Previews

Dambulla Giants

The Dambulla Giants too were off to a losing start, as they were defeated in their opening match by the defending champions, the Jaffna Kings.

Batting first, the Giants posted 121 runs on the scoreboard, largely due to a 63-run opening stand between the openers, Jordan Cox and Shevon Daniel. The middle order wasn’t able to capitalize on the good start, and batsmen including Sikandar Raza, Dasun Shanaka, and Chaturanga de Silva failed to reach double-digits. The bowling too was quite lackluster.

Noor Ahmad was the only bowler to get a wicket, that of Avishka Fernando, while none of the bowlers managed to contain the rampant opening pair of the Kings, and ultimately lost the game by 9 wickets. Overall, the Giants seem lacking in match-winning players, as some of their best-performing players from the last season, including Phil Salt, Najibullah Zadran, and Imran Tahir are missing this time around. 

Colombo Stars

The Stars began their latest campaign on a rather disappointing note, as they were thrashed by the Kandy Warriors in their opening match.After winning the toss, the Stars opted to bowl first and were blown away by a superb opening pair of the Warriors.

Chasing a massive target of 200 runs, the team was never really in contention to win, as the batsmen surrendered meekly. In the end, the Stars fell short by a massive margin of 109 runs, and are currently last on the points table.

Nevertheless, these are early days in the tournament and we can surely expect them to come around from that humiliating loss. The team has managed to retain some of its top performers from the previous season. Angelo Mathews is once again leading the squad. He scored at an impressive average of close to 48 in the last season.

Supporting him will be Dinesh Chandimal, who was the top-scorer for the Stars in the previous season. The management has also brought in reinforcements for the middle order in the form of Ravi Bopara, Benny Howell, and Keemo Paul.

While Dushmantha Chameera is missing from the squad, the Stars still have their best bowlers from the last season, including Naveen ul-Haq, Jeffrey Vandersay, and Seekkuge Prasanna.