Kandy, March 10
Punjab Royals and Dubai Giants came out victorious as both won their respective matches against Rajasthan Kings and Colombo Lions with seven wickets in hand on Day 3 of the Legends Cricket Trophy 2024 at the Pallekele International Stadium here. While Punjab clinched their first win of the tournament Dubai won their second match in succession to go top of the points table.
In the first match of the day, Punjab Royals came out victorious against Rajasthan Kings, who were looking to make it two on the trot after last evening's successful outing against Kandy Samp Army.
Rajasthan Kings' captain Robin Uthappa won the toss and elected to bat looking to carry on with his form. Uthappa didn't disappoint and came out all guns blazing. Uthappa scored his second half-century of the tournament as he scored 53 runs off just 26 balls with the help of five massive sixes and two boundaries before being dismissed by Upul Idrasiri. While Uthappa was going all guns blazing, Rajasthan kept losing wickets at the other end and it was again up to former Zimbabwe batter Hamilton Mazakadza to support the Indian star. Mazakadza scored 31 runs off 27 balls before giving away his wicket to Rahat Ali.
On the other end, it was the South African Peter Trego who kept the scoreboard ticking for the Rajasthan Kings and scored a quickfire 40 off just 20 balls with the help of six boundaries and one maximum. The cameo from Trego helped Rajasthan to a respectable score of 134-6 from 15 overs.
Punjab Royals playing their first match of the tournament meant business as they clinically approached the chase. They lost opener Naman Ojha for a single-figure score but it was the experienced duo of captain Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dwayne Smith, who made short work of the Rajasthan's score putting together a 113-run stand. Dilshan scored 50 off 37 balls whereas Smith scored 62 of 36 balls before getting out leaving only a meagre amount of runs for the following batsmen to chase down. Punjab achieved the target with four balls to spare and seven wickets in hand handing Rajasthan Kings their first defeat of the tournament.
In the second match of the day, Dubai Giants won the toss and opted to bowl first against Colombo Lions. Colombo Lions dashed off the mark with Adnan Akmal and Ben Dunk going all guns blazing. However, this didn't last long as Akmal was bowled by Suyal for 17 runs.
Ben Dunk continued on and ended up being the highest scorer for the team with 45 off 21 balls with five boundaries and three sixes. Finally a late cameo by Nawroz who scored 27 off 16 balls to help his team reach 143-6 at the end of 15 overs. Gurkeerat Singh Mann was the pick of the bowlers for Dubai Giants as he 3/20 from his two overs.
In the chase, Dubai Giants started shakily, losing both their openers in quick succession. It was again Gurkeerat Singh Mann who steadied the ship and kept scoring runs in fast succession.
Mann alongside Saurabh Tiwary put together a 75-run stand off just 43 balls to help Dubai reach their goal. Mann scored 42 off 24 balls while Tiwary scored 52 off 28 balls with the help of five fours and three sixes. Thisara Perera was the one to hit the winning runs as he ended with 15 runs off just five balls with two sixes to his name. Dubai won the match with two overs to spare and by seven wickets.
Brief scores:
Rajasthan Kings 134/6 (Robin Uthappa 53) lost to Punjab Royals 138/3 (Dwayne Smith 62).
Colombo Lions 143/6 (Ben Dunk 45) lost to Dubai Giants 147/3 (Saurabh Tiwary 52).