Sri Lanka end World Cup campaign with a solitary win
Charith Asalanka who hit 21 ball 46 with 5 sixes was named Man of the MatchCharith Asalanka who hit 21 ball 46 with 5 sixes was named Man of the Match
Sri Lanka ended their 2024 T20 World Cup campaign on a high note with a superb 83 run win over Netherlands in Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, St. Lucia yesterday. This was their first win of the group stage after back to back defeats against South Africa and Bangladesh while the third game against Nepal was abandoned due to rain.
It meant Sri Lanka ended on 3 points and third place in Group ‘D’ behind South Africa and Bangladesh, who had confirmed their place in the Super Eight after beating Nepal in Kingstown, St. Vincent yesterday. Sri Lankan victory was set up by batters and finished off clinically by the bowlers and this was a good comeback after poor batting records on USA wickets.
Netherlands aimed to get a big win to have a super eight chance but it was blocked by Bangladesh who won their third game against Nepal by 21 runs yesterday.
After putting into bat Sri Lanka openers Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka couldn’t make a good stand with Nissanka the inform batter was out for a duck second ball of the first over which was bowled by Vivian Kingma. Kusal Mendis and Kamindu Mendis added 39 runs second wicket stand while Kamindu was out for 17 in 20 balls with a six and a four . Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva were more responsible at this stage adding 45 runs and they were 74 for 2 after ten overs with healthy run rate.
Dhananjaya the number four batter struck Paul van Meekeren for three consecutive boundaries in 13th over to increase the total and Dutch bowlers were under pressure at this stage. Sri Lanka middle order clicked yesterday while Charith Asalanka was leading the way hitting blistering knock of 46 in just 21 balls with five sixes and a four while opener Kusal Mendis 46 in 29 balls with 5 fours, Dhananjaya de Silva 34 in 26 balls with 3 fours and a six played good supporting roles.
The last five overs Sri Lanka batters Charith Asalanka, Anjelo Methews and Skipper Wanindu Hasaranga were able to add 77 runs to get the total of 201 for 6 wickets which was highest T-20 team total of this St. Lucia wicket while second team to reach highest team total 201 in this T-20 World Cup (Australia scored 201 for 7 against England last week). Experienced Mathews hit an unbeaten 30 in 15 balls with a six and 2 fours while Hasaranga made unbeaten 20 in 6 balls with a four and two sixes and the pair added 17 runs in the last over bowled by Logan van Beek to pass 200 mark in great style.
Netherlands chasing a target of 202 got off a brisk start by openers Micheal Levitt (31 in 23 balls)Max O’Dowd (11in 8 balls ) but paceman Nuwan Thushara made the breakthrough to get Levitt . However once the first wicket fell the rest offered very little resistance as Sri Lanka’s varied attack proved too tough to handle and Nuwan Thushara was the pick of the bowlers taking 3 for 24 while Matheetha Pathirana 2 for 12 and Wanindu Hasaranga 2 for 25 gave fine support to bowl out Dutch team for 118 t in 16.4 overs.
This is the highest match aggregate (319) involving Sri Lanka and Netherlands in T20s while Dasun Shanaka has broken the record of most ducks (11) in T20s for Sri Lanka going past Dilshan’s 10 Charith Asalaka was adjudged Man of the Match for his entertaining innings of 46 in 21 balls and also took two good catches.
Chief scores
Sri Lanka 201 for 6 wickets in 20 overs (Kusal Mendis 46, Kamindu Mendis 17, Dhananjaya de Silva 34, Charith Asalanka 46, Angelo Mathews 30*, Wanindu Hasaranga 20*,Vivian Kingma 1/23, Aryan Dutt 1/23, Logan van Beek 2/45, Paul van Meekeren 1/47, Tim Pringle 1/41)
Netherlands 118 all out in 16.4 overs (Micheal Livitt 31, Max O’Dowd 11, Sybrand Engelbrecht 11, Scott Edwards 31 , Aryan Dutt 10, Nuwan Thushara 3/24, Maheesh Theekshana 1/25, Wanindu Hasaranga 2/25, Dasun Shanaka 1/10, Mateesha Pathirana 2/12).
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We made a challenging total to get success, says Asalanka