# Dambulla Giants in 2021

The Dambulla Giants (DG) is a franchise cricket team that competes in 2021 Lanka Premier League. The team is based in Dambulla, Central Province, Sri Lanka. In September 2021, Dambulla Viiking changed their name to Dambulla Giants after having new owners. The team was captained by Dasun Shanaka and coached by Stuart Law.

## Squad

* Players with international caps are listed in bold.
* Ages given as of 5 December 2021, the date the first match of the tournament was played
| S/N | Name | Nationality | Date of birth (age) | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
| Batsman |||||||
| 24 | Dilshan Munaweera | Sri Lanka | (1989-04-24)24 April 1989 (aged 32) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| 92 | Sohaib Maqsood | Pakistan | (1987-04-15)15 April 1987 (aged 34) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | Overseas player |
| 1 | Najibullah Zadran | Afghanistan | (1993-02-18)18 February 1993 (aged 28) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | Overseas player |
| | Sacha De Alwis | Sri Lanka | (1992-01-30)30 January 1992 (aged 29) | Left- handed | Slow left arm orthodox | |
| 23 | Rilee Rossouw | South Africa | (1989-10-09)9 October 1989 (aged 32) | Left- handed | Right-arm off break | Overseas player |
| All-rounders |||||||
| 7 | Dasun Shanaka | Sri Lanka | (1991-09-09)9 September 1991 (aged 30) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Captain |
| 25 | Ramesh Mendis | Sri Lanka | (1995-07-07)7 July 1995 (aged 26) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| | Tharindu Ratnayake | Sri Lanka | (1996-04-18)18 April 1996 (aged 25) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| | Muditha Lakshan | Sri Lanka | (2000-12-20)20 December 2000 (aged 20) | Right-handed | Slow left arm orthodox | |
| | Sachitha Jayathilake | Sri Lanka | (1997-02-24)24 February 1997 (aged 24) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| | Janith Liyanage | Sri Lanka | (1995-07-12)12 July 1995 (aged 26) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | |
| Wicket-keepers |||||||
| 48 | Niroshan Dickwella | Sri Lanka | (1993-06-23)23 June 1993 (aged 28) | Left-handed | | |
| | Lahiru Udara | Sri Lanka | (1993-11-27)27 November 1993 (aged 28) | Right-handed | – | |
| Spin bowlers |||||||
| 99 | Imran Tahir | South Africa | (1979-03-27)27 March 1979 (aged 42) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | Overseas player |
| | Madushan Ravichandrakumar | Sri Lanka | (1994-12-23)23 December 1994 (aged 26) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| | Chamikara Edirisinghe | Sri Lanka | (1991-04-04)4 April 1991 (aged 30) | Left-handed | Slow left arm orthodox | |
| Pace bowlers |||||||
| 29 | Chamika Karunaratne | Sri Lanka | (1996-05-29)29 May 1996 (aged 25) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | |
| 63 | Nuwan Pradeep | Sri Lanka | (1986-10-19)19 October 1986 (aged 35) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | |
| 82 | Josh Little | Ireland | (1999-11-01)1 November 1999 (aged 22) | Right-handed | Left-arm fast-medium | Overseas player |
| 90 | Marchant de Lange | South Africa | (1990-10-13)13 October 1990 (aged 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | Overseas player |
| | Kalana Perera | Sri Lanka | (2000-07-28)28 July 2000 (aged 21) | Left-handed | Left-arm medium-fast | |
| | Odean Smith | West Indies | (1996-11-01)1 November 1996 (aged 25) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Overseas player |

## Administration and support staff

| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Stuart Law |
| Assistant coach | Sampath Perera |
| Fielding coach | Kaushalya Gajasinghe |

## Teams and standings
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
| 1 | Jaffna Kings (C) | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 2.210 |
| 2 | Galle Gladiators (R) | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 0.143 |
| 3 | Colombo Stars (4th) | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | −0.571 |
| 4 | Dambulla Giants (3rd) | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 7 | −1.003 |
| 5 | Kandy Warriors | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | −0.668 |
* The top four teams qualified for the playoffs
* Advanced to Qualifier 1
* Advanced to Eliminator

## League matches

* Match 2 6 December 2021 15:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Dambulla Giants 190/7 (20 overs) | v | Kandy Warriors 170/8 (20 overs) |
| Phil Salt 64 (27) Lahiru Kumara 3/34 (4 overs) | | Rovman Powell 42 (21) Ramesh Mendis 3/21 (4 overs) |
* Dambulla Giants won by 20 runs R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Keerthi Bandara and Raveendra Wimalasiri Player of the match: Phil Salt (Dambulla Giants)
* Dambulla Giants won the toss and elected to bat.
* Match 4 7 December 2021 15:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Dambulla Giants 110 (19.3 overs) | v | Jaffna Kings 114/2 (12.3 overs) |
| Nuwanidu Fernando 23 (25) Wanindu Hasaranga 3/16 (4 overs) | | Tom Kohler-Cadmore 45* (30) Imran Tahir 1/20 (4 overs) |
* Jaffna Kings won by 8 wickets R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena and Ravindra Kottahachchi Player of the match: Maheesh Theekshana (Jaffna Kings)
* Dambulla Giants won the toss and elected to bat.
* Match 6 8 December 2021 15:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Dambulla Giants 195/6 (20 overs) | v | Colombo Stars 177 (18.5 overs) |
| Phil Salt 62 (34) Dushmantha Chameera 3/34 (4 overs) | | Dinesh Chandimal 26 (16) Nuwan Pradeep 3/50 (4 overs) |
* Dambulla Giants won by 18 runs R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena and Rohitha Kottahachchi Player of the match: Phil Salt (Dambulla Giants)
* Dambulla Giants won the toss and elected to bat.
* Match 8 10 December 2021 15:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Dambulla Giants 159/7 (20 overs) | v | Galle Gladiators 18/0 (1.2 overs) |
| Dasun Shanaka 37 (32) Nuwan Thushara 2/24 (3 overs) | | Kusal Mendis 15* (5) |
* No result R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Keerthi Bandara and Lyndon Hannibal
* Dambulla Giants won the toss and elected to bat.
* No further play was possible due to rain.
* Match 11 11 December 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Dambulla Giants 138/9 (20 overs) | v | Colombo Stars 137/8 (20 overs) |
| Niroshan Dickwella 30 (16) Jeffrey Vandersay 3/25 (4 overs) | | Dinesh Chandimal 65* (40) Tharindu Ratnayake 3/18 (4 overs) |
* Dambulla Giants won by 1 run R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Hemantha Boteju and Raveendra Wimalasiri Player of the match: Tharindu Ratnayake (Dambulla Giants)
* Dambulla Giants won the toss and elected to bat.
* Match 14 13 December 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Dambulla Giants 69 (14.1 overs) | v | Jaffna Kings 71/3 (9.2 overs) |
| Phil Salt 23 (22) Chaturanga de Silva 4/16 (4 overs) | | Wanindu Hasaranga 37 (18) Imran Tahir 2/21 (4 overs) |
* Jaffna Kings won by 7 wickets R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Keerthi Bandara and Raveendra Wimalasiri Player of the match: Chaturanga de Silva (Jaffna Kings)
* Jaffna Kings won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 16 14 December 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Galle Gladiators 134/7 (14 overs) | v | Dambulla Giants 125/5 (14 overs) |
| Kusal Mendis 35 (17) Imran Tahir 3/20 (3 overs) | | Janith Liyanage 51 (37) Samit Patel 2/24 (3 overs) |
* Galle Gladiators won by 9 runs R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Ravindra Kottahachchi and Prageeth Rambukwella Player of the match: Samit Patel (Galle Gladiators)
* Dambulla Giants won the toss and elected to field.
* The match was reduced to 14 overs per side due to rain.
* Match 18 16 December 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Dambulla Giants 130/9 (20 overs) | v | Kandy Warriors 135/4 (19.2 overs) |
| Ramesh Mendis 41 (28) Binura Fernando 3/22 (4 overs) | | Ravi Bopara 59* (50) Imran Tahir 2/17 (4 overs) |
* Kandy Warriors won by 6 wickets R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Rohitha Kottahachchi and Raveendra Wimalasiri Player of the match: Ravi Bopara (Kandy Warriors)
* Dambulla Giants won the toss and elected to bat.

## Playoffs
### Eliminator

* Match 21 19 December 2021 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Colombo Stars 145/6 (20 overs) | v | Dambulla Giants 146/4 (18.5 overs) |
| Angelo Mathews 50* (34) Nuwan Pradeep 2/23 (4 overs) | | Janith Liyanage 56* (47) Dushmantha Chameera 1/24 (4 overs) |
* Dambulla Giants won by 6 wickets Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota Umpires: Lyndon Hannibal and Raveendra Wimalasiri Player of the match: Janith Liyanage (Dambulla Giants)
* Colombo Stars won the toss and elected to bat.

### Qualifier 2

* Match 23 21 December 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Jaffna Kings 210/4 (20 overs) | v | Dambulla Giants 187/9 (20 overs) |
| Avishka Fernando 100 (64) Lahiru Samarakoon 2/30 (2 overs) | | Chamika Karunaratne 75* (47) Jayden Seales 3/24 (4 overs) |
* Jaffna Kings won by 23 runs Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota Umpires: Lyndon Hannibal and Prageeth Rambukwella Player of the match: Avishka Fernando (Jaffna Kings)
* Dambulla Giants won the toss and elected to field.
* Avishka Fernando (Jaffna Kings) scored his first century in Twenty20 cricket.

## Statistics
### Most runs

| Player | Matches | Runs | High score |
| Phil Salt | 10 | 301 | 64 |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 10 | 156 | 75* |
| Najibullah Zadran | 9 | 152 | 54 |
| Niroshan Dickwella | 10 | 151 | 37 |
| Dasun Shanaka | 8 | 139 | 38 |
* Source: ESPNcricinfo

### Most wickets

| Player | Matches | Wickets | Best bowling |
| Imran Tahir | 10 | 15 | 3/20 |
| Nuwan Pradeep | 8 | 10 | 3/31 |
| Ramesh Mendis | 10 | 7 | 3/21 |
| Tharindu Ratnayake | 6 | 6 | 3/18 |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 10 | 5 | 2/46 |
* Source: ESPNcricinfo