Sri Lanka’s spinners bowled 10 overs for just 57 runs while picking up 5 wickets, before the top 3 batters combined to give Sri Lanka a 9-wicket win against Ireland in their 1st Super 12 Round encounter at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart.
Kusal Mendis made his 2nd consecutive 50 of the tournament, smashing 68 off 43 while Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva found some fluency with 31 each to help Sri Lanka chase the 128-run target with 5 overs to spare.
Nissanka, Chameera give Sri Lanka NRR boosting win
Mendis looked good right from the get go alongside De Silva, who opened the batting today, with Pathum Nissanka missing out due to injury. The pair put on 63 for the 1st wicket before de Silva fell. Asalanka took some time to get going, mistiming a few early in his innings. He was helped along his way by a missed opportunity by George Dockrell when he was on 7 and ended up gaining some much needed fluency, finishing with a strike-rate of 140+.
Earlier in the day, Ireland came into the last 5 overs with 6 wickets in hand and a hundred on the board but a brilliant bowling display by Sri Lanka’s two ace spinners saw them restricted to 128. Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga picked up 4 wickets between them, including 3 in the final 5 overs.
Sri Lanka through to Super 12s after nervy win
Irish skipper Andy Balbirnie won the toss and opted to bat first but was the first man dismissed, missing a straight one from Lahiru Kumara. Sri Lanka kept the Irish quiet up until the midway point, but a 47-run partnership between Harry Sector and George Dockrell between the 10th and 16th overs threatened to take things away from Sri Lanka, before the spinners put the brakes on the Irish innings.
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Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Stirling | c Bhanuka Rajapaksa b Dhananjaya de Silva | 34 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 136.00 |
| Andy Balbirnie | b Lahiru Kumara | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Lorcan Tucker | b Maheesh Theekshana | 10 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 90.91 |
| Harry Tector | c Dasun Shanaka b Binura Fernando | 45 | 42 | 2 | 1 | 107.14 |
| Curtis Campher | c Charith Asalanka b Chamika Karunaratne | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| George Dockrell | b Maheesh Theekshana | 14 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 87.50 |
| Gareth Delany | c Chamika Karunaratne b Wanidu Hasaranga | 9 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 150.00 |
| Mark Adair | c Chamika Karunaratne b Wanidu Hasaranga | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Simi Singh | not out | 7 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 87.50 |
| Barry McCarthy | not out | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 4 (b 3 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 128/8 (20 Overs, RR: 6.4) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binura Fernando | 4 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 6.75 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 2 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 6.00 | |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 4.75 | |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 4 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 7.25 | |
| Wanidu Hasaranga | 4 | 0 | 25 | 2 | 6.25 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 2 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 6.50 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kusal Mendis | not out | 68 | 43 | 5 | 3 | 158.14 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Lorcan Tucker b Gareth Delany | 31 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 124.00 |
| Charith Asalanka | not out | 31 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 140.91 |
| Extras | 3 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 133/1 (15 Overs, RR: 8.87) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Little | 4 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 11.25 | |
| Mark Adair | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 8.00 | |
| Barry McCarthy | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 8.00 | |
| Gareth Delany | 4 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 7.00 | |
| Curtis Campher | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8.00 | |
| Simi Singh | 2 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 10.00 | |
