Dambulla Viiking in 2020

Dambulla Viiking

2020 season
Coach	Owais Shah
Captain	Dasun Shanaka
2020 LPL	Semi-finalist
Most runs	Dasun Shanaka (278) [1]
Most wickets	Anwar Ali (9) [2]

Dambulla Viiking (abbreviated as DV) is a franchise cricket team which competed in the inaugural season of Lanka Premier League (LPL). For the 2020 season, the team was captained by Dasun Shanaka and coached by Owais Shah. ^[3] Based in Dambulla, Central Province, Sri Lanka, the team is owned by Bollywood film actor and producer Sachiin J. Joshi. ^{[4] [5] [6]} In the inaugural season, it changed its name from Dambulla Hawks to Dambulla Lions, and ten days later again changed its name to Dambulla Viiking. ^{[7] [8]}

The team qualified for the semi-finals of this inaugural season of LPL after winning five out of eight matches, but lost to Jaffna Stallions in the semi-finals.

Season summary

In the Dambulla Viiking's first-ever LPL game, against the Kandy Tuskers, they scored 195/4 of their 20 overs. The game was shortened by rain, with the Viiking winning by four runs according to DLS. ^[9] In their second match, they played against the Jaffna Stallions, who scored 218/7 thanks to Stallions captain Thisara Perera, who scored an unbeaten 97 runs. The Viikings could not chase the total down, losing by 66 runs. ^[10]

In their third match, they played against the Colombo Kings. The Kings' batting fluctuated, as they were bowled out for 149 runs in response to the Viiking's 175 runs. This brought the Kings' unbeaten run to an end. ^[11] In Game 4 they competed against the Kandy Tuskers. The Tuskers made 156 runs with a loss of 6 wickets. In response to the Viiking's 157/7, winning the game by 5 wickets. ^[12]

The Viiking's Game 5, against the Galle Gladiators, was a much closer affair. Niroshan Dickwella hit 60 runs. In response, Gladiators' batsman Danushka Gunathilaka hit his third fifty in a row and he was well supported by wicket-keeper batsman Azam Khan, who also hit a fifty. However, the Viiking won this time by 9 runs. ^[13] Game 6 was a washout, with the Viiking at 42/3 before the rain hit. ^[14]

In Game 7 against Galle, the Viiking's chances looked slim before Samiullah Shinwari's 46 runs off 20 balls helped the Viikings chase down the target of 168 runs. ^[15] In the last game of the group stage against the Colombo Kings, Kings player Qais Ahmed performed with both bat and ball. He first took two wickets by giving 23 runs from his 4 overs before hitting 50 runs off 22 balls, and defeated Viiking with a 6 wickets loss. This meant that the Dambulla Viiking finished 2nd on the table. ^[16]

Viiking played against the Stallions in the second semi-finals, but lost the match by a margin of 37 runs. ^[17]

Squad

• Players with international caps are listed in bold.
• Ages given as of 26 November 2020, the date that the first match was played in the tournament

No.	Name	Nationality	Date of birth (age)	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batsmen
80	Oshada Fernando	Sri Lanka	(1992-04-15)15 April 1992 (aged 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg-break
44	Upul Tharanga	Sri Lanka	(1985-02-02)2 February 1985 (aged 35)	Left-handed	—
23	Angelo Perera	Sri Lanka	(1990-02-23)23 February 1990 (aged 30)	Right-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
10	David Miller	South Africa	(1989-06-10)10 June 1989 (aged 31)	Right-handed	Right-arm offbreak	Marquee overseas player
54	Lendl Simmons	West Indies	(1985-01-25)25 January 1985 (aged 35)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast	Overseas
92	Sohaib Maqsood	Pakistan	(1987-03-15)15 March 1987 (aged 33)	Right-handed	Right-arm legbreak	Overseas
88	Pulina Tharanga	Sri Lanka	(1993-01-23)23 January 1993 (aged 27)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg-break
15	Ashen Bandara	Sri Lanka	(1998-11-23)23 November 1998 (aged 22)	Right-handed	Right-arm legbreak
N/A	Kavindu Nadeeshan	Sri Lanka	(2001-08-31)31 August 2001 (aged 19)	Right-handed	Legbreak
All-rounders
7	Dasun Shanaka	Sri Lanka	(1991-09-09)9 September 1991 (aged 29)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Captain, Icon player
45	Lahiru Madushanka	Sri Lanka	(1992-09-12)12 September 1992 (aged 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium
26	Carlos Brathwaite	West Indies	(1988-07-18)18 July 1988 (aged 32)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast	Overseas
22	Samit Patel	England	(1984-11-30)30 November 1984 (aged 35)	Right-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	Overseas
N/A	Paul Stirling	Ireland	(1990-09-03)3 September 1990 (aged 30)	Right-handed	Right-arm offbreak	Overseas
N/A	Aftab Alam	Afghanistan	(1992-11-13)13 November 1992 (aged 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	Overseas
84	Anwar Ali	Pakistan	(1987-11-25)25 November 1987 (aged 33)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	Overseas
45	Samiullah Shinwari	Afghanistan	(1985-01-25)25 January 1985 (aged 35)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg spin	Overseas
5	Ramesh Mendis	Sri Lanka	(1995-07-07)7 July 1995 (aged 25)	Right-handed	Right-arm offbreak
Wicket-keepers
48	Niroshan Dickwella	Sri Lanka	(1993-06-23)23 June 1993 (aged 27)	Left-handed	—
23	Sadeera Samarawickrama	Sri Lanka	(1995-08-30)30 August 1995 (aged 25)	Right-handed	—
23	Kamran Akmal	Pakistan	(1982-01-13)13 January 1982 (aged 38)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Overseas
Bowlers
8	Lahiru Kumara	Sri Lanka	(1997-02-13)13 February 1997 (aged 23)	Left-handed	Right-arm fast
65	Kasun Rajitha	Sri Lanka	(1993-06-01)1 June 1993 (aged 27)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast
3	Malinda Pushpakumara	Sri Lanka	(1987-03-24)24 March 1987 (aged 33)	Right-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
32	Sudeep Tyagi	India	(1989-09-17)17 September 1989 (aged 31)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	Overseas
N/A	Dilshan Madushanka	Sri Lanka	(2000-09-18)18 September 2000 (aged 20)	Right-handed	Left-arm fast-medium
52	Sachindu Colombage	Sri Lanka	(1998-02-21)21 February 1998 (aged 22)	Right-handed	Right-arm legbreak

• Sources ^{[18] [19] [20] [21]}

Administration and support staff

Bollywood actor and producer Sachiin J. Joshi owns the Dambulla Viiking team. ^[22] For the season, former English cricketer Owais Shah was appointed as the head coach of team. ^[23]

Season standings

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	NR	Pts	NRR
1	Colombo Kings	8	6	2	0	12	0.448
2	Dambulla Viiking	8	5	2	1	11	−0.087
3	Jaffna Stallions (C)	8	4	3	1	9	0.788
4	Galle Gladiators (R)	8	2	6	0	4	−0.203
5	Kandy Tuskers	8	2	6	0	4	−0.890

Source: ESPNCricinfo

• The top four teams qualified for the playoffs
•   Advanced to semifinals

Matches

  denotes the winner team.
  denotes the loser team.
  denotes no result.

Date	Opponent	Toss	Result	Man of the match	Notes
28 November	Kandy Tuskers	Kandy Tuskers elected to field.	Dambulla Viiking won by 4 runs.	Dasun Shanaka	Won by DLS method. [24]
30 November	Jaffna Stallions	Dambulla Viiking elected to field.	Jaffna Stallions won by 66 runs.	Thisara Perera	[25]
1 December	Colombo Kings	Dambulla Viiking elected to bat.	Dambulla Viiking won by 28 runs.	Dasun Shanaka	[26]
3 December	Kandy Tuskers	Kandy Tuskers elected to bat.	Dambulla Viiking won by 5 wickets.	Angelo Perera	[27]
5 December	Galle Gladiators	Dambulla Viiking elected to bat.	Dambulla Viiking won by 9 runs.	Anwar Ali	[28]
7 December	Jaffna Stallions	Jaffna Stallions elected to field.	Cancelled due to rain. [29]
9 December	Galle Gladiators	Galle Gladiators elected to field.	Dambulla Viiking won by 4 wickets.	Samiullah Shinwari	[30]
11 December	Colombo Kings	Colombo Kings elected to field.	Colombo Kings won by 6 wickets.	Qais Ahmad	[31]
14 December	Jaffna Stallions	Dambulla Viiking elected to field.	Jaffna Stallions won by 37 runs.	Johnson Charles	Lost the semi-final. [32]

Statistics

Most runs

The top scorer of Dambulla Viiking was Dasun Shanaka, who scored 278 runs in nine matches. The second position was attained by Niroshan Dickwella, who scored 270 runs. The third and fourth positions were attained by Angelo Perera and Upul Tharanga, respectively, and the fifth position was held by English cricketer Samit Patel. ^[1]

* indicates a player who remained not out. ^[1]

Name	Matches	Runs	Highest score
Dasun Shanaka	9	278	73
Niroshan Dickwella	9	270	65
Angelo Perera	7	227	74*
Upul Tharanga	8	196	77
Samit Patel	9	189	58

Most wickets

Anwar Ali, a Pakistani cricketer who took nine wickets in eight matches, was followed by Malinda Pushpakumara, who took eight wickets. Ramesh Mendis and Kasun Rajitha both took six wickets. ^[2]

Notation 3/37 denotes 3 wickets obtained by 37 runs. ^[2]

Name	Matches	Wickets	Best bowling
Anwar Ali	8	9	3/37
Malinda Pushpakumara	8	8	2/19
Samit Patel	9	7	2/26
Ramesh Mendis	7	6	2/28
Kasun Rajitha	6	6	2/16

Awards and achievements

Dambulla Viiking won five matches, so five man of the match awards were given to the team's players. The first award was presented to Dasun Shanaka for scoring 73 runs off 37 balls, and he also won the second award. The third award was presented to Angelo Perera for scoring 67 runs off 49 balls. The fourth award was bestowed to Pakistani cricketer Anwar Ali for picking up three wickets, and the last award was awarded to Afghan cricketer Samiullah Shinwari.

Date	Award	Player	Opponent	Result	Contribution	Ref.
28 November	Man of the Match	Dasun Shanaka	Kandy Tuskers	Won by 4 runs (DLS method).	73 (37)	[33]
1 December			Colombo Kings	Won by 28 runs.	56 (34)	[34]
3 December		Angelo Perera	Kandy Tuskers	Won by 5 wickets.	67 (49)	[35]
5 December		Anwar Ali	Galle Gladiators	Won by 9 runs.	3/37	[36]
9 December		Samiullah Shinwari		Won by 4 wickets.	46* (20)	[37]

References

1. "Lanka Premier League,2020/21 - Dambulla Viiking Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
2. "Lanka Premier League,2020/21 - Dambulla Viiking Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
3. "Lanka Premier League 2020: Sri Lanka Cricket to confirm fixtures after decision on India series". The Sports Rush. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
4. "Sachin Joshi buys Dambulla team in LPL". Mumbai Mirror.
5. "Bollywood Actor Sachin Joshi buys Lanka Premier League team Dambulla Hawks". 13 November 2020.
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8. "Another name change for LPL team Dambulla". 15 November 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
9. "3rd Match (D/N), Hambantota, Nov 28 2020, Lanka Premier League". ESPN Cricinfo.
10. "5th Match (D/N), Hambantota, Nov 30 2020, Lanka Premier League". ESPN Cricinfo.
11. "7th Match (D/N), Hambantota, Dec 1 2020, Lanka Premier League". ESPN Cricinfo.
12. "10th Match (N), Hambantota, Dec 2 2020, Lanka Premier League". ESPN Cricinfo.
13. "Dambulla Viiking sneak into semi-finals despite Gunathilaka, Azam heroics". ESPN Cricinfo.
14. "15th Match (N), Hambantota, Dec 7 2020, Lanka Premier League". ESPN Cricinfo.
15. "Samiullah Shinwari blitz keeps sloppy Galle Gladiators bottom". ESPN Cricinfo.
16. "LPL Table". ESPN Cricinfo.
17. "Jaffna Stallions set up final clash with Galle Gladiators". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
18. "Dambulla Viiking Squad". Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
19. "ShieldSquare Captcha". validate.perfdrive.com. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
20. "Yahoo Cricket". cricket.yahoo.net. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
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23. "Owais Shah replaces Jon Lewis as Dambulla coach". 14 November 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
24. "Viiking beat Tuskers Viiking won by 111 runs (D/L method) - Viiking vs Tuskers, 3rd Match Match Summary, Report | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo.
25. "Stallions beat Viiking Stallions won by 66 runs - Stallions vs Viiking, 5th Match Match Summary, Report | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo.
26. "Viiking beat Kings Viiking won by 28 runs - Viiking vs Kings, 7th Match Match Summary, Report | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo.
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29. "Viiking vs Stallions, 15th Match Match Details, Schedule, Summary | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo.
30. "Viiking beat Gladiators Viiking won by 4 wickets - Gladiators vs Viiking, 17th Match Match Summary, Report | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo.
31. "Kings beat Viiking Kings won by 6 wickets - Viiking vs Kings, 20th Match Match Summary, Report | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo.
32. "Viiking vs Stallions, 2nd Semi-final Match Details, Schedule, Summary | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
33. "Viiking beat Tuskers Viiking won by 111 runs (D/L method) - Viiking vs Tuskers, 3rd Match Match Summary, Report | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
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35. "Viiking beat Tuskers Viiking won by 5 wickets - Tuskers vs Viiking, 10th Match Match Summary, Report | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
36. "Viiking beat Gladiators Viiking won by 9 runs - Viiking vs Gladiators, 12th Match Match Summary, Report | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
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