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With one of the most well rounded squads in the Lanka Premier League, Carl Crowe and Thisara Perera’s Colombo Strikers will hope to put that on show as they face a relatively weak Dambulla Sixers side in Dambulla on Sunday.
DATE & TIME: Sunday 7th July, 2024: USA ET – 7:00am / USA PT – 10:00am / UK – 3:00pm / South Africa – 4:00pm / Pakistan – 7:00pm / India – 7:30pm / Sri Lanka – 7:30pm / Bangladesh – 8:00pm / Monday 8th July, 2024: Australia – 12:00am
VENUE: Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla, Sri Lanka
WEATHER: 27c or 80.6 F with clear skies
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: USA – Not Televised / West Indies – Not Televised / UK – Not Televised / South Africa – Not Televised / Pakistan – Star Sports / India – Star Sports / Bangladesh – Star Sports / Australia – Not Televised / Sri Lanka – Star Sports
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: USA – Not Available / West Indies – Not Available / UK – Not Available / South Africa – Not Available / Pakistan – Tapmad / India – Fancode / Bangladesh – Not Available / Australia – Kayo Sports / Sri Lanka – Dialog TV
DAMBULLA SIXERS FORM: SLOW START
The Dambulla Sixers got off to a shaky start to this campaign with an opening game thrashing at the hands of defending champions Kandy Falcons. They saw their target set of 180 chased down in 17.2 overs before then suffering a final ball four-wicket loss to the Jaffna Kings in Pallekele leaving them in a really poor position already.
LAST THREE: LLL
COLOMBO STRIKERS FORM: STRONG ALL OVER
The Colombo Strikers, with middle-to-lower order hitting from the likes of Sadeera Samarawickrama, Chamika Karunaratne and Glenn Phillips to support captain Thisara Perera and opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, began by posting the highest score of the tournament of 198 in a 51-run win over the Kandy Falcons before then suffering a seven-run defeat to the Galle Marvels.
LAST THREE: LWL
DAMBULLA SIXERS BETTING ANALYSIS
The Dambulla Sixers have struggled scoring runs at a good rate. They began their campaign with that aforementioned thrashing with the Kandy Falcons making a mockery of what the Sixers reckoned was a decent total. Losing two wickets in scoring 191, with a total then chased down, also speaks to that. There will be an intent to score quickly and the man to do that is Kusal Perera, who hit an unbeaten century against the Jaffna Kings, so backing Perera runs is the way to go.
With the ball, Dambulla have struggled to find anyone to bowl consistently in their opening set of matches. Mustafizur Rahman was their top bowler against the Jaffna Kings but the Colombo Strikers have found spin most difficult to play thus far. As a result, Mohammad Nabi or Akila Dananjaya to take two or more wickets in the match would appeal.
COLOMBO STRIKERS BETTING ANALYSIS
The Colombo Strikers have yet to see the absolute best of Sadeera Samarawickrama, despite the number four scoring 48 off 26 and top scoring in their aforementioned 51-run defeat of Kandy. Samarawickrama has all the class of a Test middle-order player but with genuine power to score quickly so him to go big at some stage is likely and it could well be in this one.
Their spin bowling duo of Dunith Wellalage and Shadab Khan wreaked havoc against Kandy with four wickets apiece, including a hat-trick for Khan. The Pakistan international then followed it up with four more against Galle and with the form he is in, Khan to take two or more wickets is a good bet.
DAMBULLA SIXERS VS COLOMBO STRIKERS EXPERT PREDICTION
There is an argument to be made, and it can be made fairly and actually quite comprehensively, that the Dambulla Sixers are the worst team in the competition this season and they are already staring at finishing rock-bottom. The Colombo Strikers are gunning for the title with an excellent core and some real flair players all round, such as the aforementioned yet to fire Gurbaz. Backing Colombo would be the tip here.
DAMBULLA SIXERS VS COLOMBO STRIKERS TOP TIP: COLOMBO STIKERS TO WIN
