Colombo Kaps lose three wickets for one run and still chase down 175
Rubin Hermann’s 48 from 26 balls did the early damage at Pallekele, and Colombo Kaps survived a three-wicket collapse in the space of five balls to beat Dambulla Sixers with an over to spare.
Jul 30, 2026
Colombo Kaps were 149 for 2 at Pallekele on 29 July, needing 26 from the last five overs against Dambulla Sixers. One run later they were 150 for 5. Ben McDermott was bowled by Akila Dananjaya, Kamindu Mendis picked out Reeza Hendricks off Dushmantha Chameera, and Janith Liyanage nicked his first ball through to Dinesh Chandimal.
Their two-over batting powerplay, taken straight after the 15th, brought them eight runs and cost them three wickets. James Neesham went in the middle of it. And they still won by four wickets with six balls to spare, Milan Rathnayaka and Ashen Bandara knocking off the last 20 runs without much fuss.
Hendricks carried the Sixers again
Dambulla batted first and were 49 for 3 inside eight overs, Shahnawaz Dahani having removed Sahibzada Farhan and Chandimal in the first four. Hendricks stayed. He reached fifty from 37 balls, added 50 in 41 with Sikandar Raza for the fourth wicket, and was eventually given out lbw to Rathnayaka for 80 from 54 balls with nine fours and three sixes. It was his third fifty of the tournament.
By then Dambulla had a platform, and Gulbadin Naib turned it into a total. His unbeaten 33 came from 13 balls with four fours and two sixes, and the Sixers finished on 174 for 5 at 8.70 an over after 24 came from the last eight deliveries.
The one bowler who kept a lid on it was Mujeeb Ur Rahman, whose four overs went for 16 with 11 dot balls in them. Once his overs were gone Kaps took him out of the game altogether, sending in Ben McDermott as their impact player with three overs of the Dambulla innings still to be bowled. Nobody else in the attack went for less than seven an over.
Hermann took the chase away early
Rubin Hermann made the target look small. He hit eight fours and a six in 48 from 26 balls, put on 40 for the first wicket with Sadeera Samarawickrama in 4.3 overs, and Kaps had 56 on the board by the end of the powerplay. Fifty came up in 33 balls. Sonal Dinusha eventually held on to a return catch off his own bowling to end it at 79 for 2.
Hermann was named player of the match, and the two who followed him did the rest of the work before the wobble. McDermott made 33 from 22 and Kamindu Mendis 39 from 28, the pair adding 50 in 27 balls for the third wicket to reach 149. Chameera and Dananjaya each finished with two wickets, which flattered a Dambulla attack that conceded 9.31 an over.
Three teams on eight points with three games left
The win moved Kaps to eight points from seven matches, level with Galle Gallants and Jaffna Kings and third of the three on net run rate. Galle sit top at plus 0.598, Jaffna are second at plus 0.272 from a game fewer, and Kaps are on plus 0.217. Kandy Royals have six points, Dambulla are bottom on four with one league match left.
Three league fixtures remain, all at Pallekele: Kandy Royals against Jaffna Kings on 30 July, Kaps against Galle on 1 August, and Dambulla against Jaffna on 2 August. The playoffs move to the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, with Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator on 5 August, Qualifier 2 on 7 August and the final on 8 August.
Hendricks now has 289 runs in the tournament, second only to Kandy’s Lahiru Udara on 354. Twelve of the 13 bowlers used across the two innings went at more than seven an over, so the batters were always going to settle this one.