Sri Lanka becomes runners-up of NZ-Asia Cup 2019

NZ-Asia Cup 2019

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The six nation, New Zealand- Asia Cup tournament concluded yesterday (from 3th-6th April) at the Indoor Premier Cricket stadium, Singapore crowning runners-up in 2017 Indoor Cricket World Cup, New Zealand as the champions and Sri Lanka as runners-up.

Read : Sri Lanka Indoor Cricket team leaves for New Zealand – Asia Cup

The tournament was played between host-nation Singapore (including Singapore A and the national team), Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates and New Zealand.

>>Photo Album : Sri Lanka Indoor Team Preview<<

The Sri Lankan contingent was led by Kolitha Hapuarachchi who has over 10 years of indoor cricket experience. The squad comprised of first-class cricketers like Andy Solomans and Tharindu Mendis.

Video – Coach Asela Pathirana Interview

Sri Lanka squad – Kolitha Hapuarachchi (C), Rumesh Perera (Joint VC), Salman Faris (Joint VC), Tharindu Mendis, Malshan Rodrigo, Andy Solomons, Heshal Silva, Sheehan Wijetunge, Kamal Kuruppu, Kanishka Jayasumane, Nalaka de Silva, Gihan Gunatilleke, Angelo Samuels, Thivanka Dabare, Asela Pathirana (Coach), Dilshan Perumal (Asst. Coach), Asitha Dewpura (Manager), Hiran de Mel (WICF – Delegate)

Video – Captain Kolitha Hapuarchchi interview

Interestingly, the strong India team couldn’t make it to the finals as they were comprehensively beaten by Sri Lanka & UAE in the round robin & semifinals.

NZ-Asia Cup 2019 – Points Table (League Stage)
Team Matches Won Lost Drawn Points
New Zealand 6 6 0 0 38
Sri Lanka 6 5 1 0 31
UAE 6 4 2 0 27
India 6 3 3 0 23
Singapore 6 2 4 0 17
Singapore A 6 1 5 0 10
Malaysia 6 0 6 0 1

Sri Lanka team won 6 out of 7 first round matches quite comfortably, going down only to strong New Zealand 91:64. They qualified to the semi final stage and had to face UAE to advance through to the finals.

Yet again, UAE weren’t a match for this strong Sri Lanka side as they were beaten 68:30. In the other semi final India were beaten by the tournament favourites New Zealand by a huge margin of 43 runs. (95:52)

Deservingly, the best two teams from the lot, Sri Lanka and New Zealand faced each other in the finals and Sri Lanka team’s last pair almost got them through the winning line, failing by just 11 runs and had to be satisfied with the runners-up trophy.

Final – Sri Lanka vs New Zealand – Replay

The final scores read as 71:60 making New Zealand, the champions of NZ-Asia Cup 2019.

Sri Lanka Team Match Results

League Stage

Sri Lanka vs Singapore

Team Skin 01 Skin 02 Skin 03 Skin 04 Total
Sri Lanka 21 29 5 23 78
Singapore 14 26 8 19 67

Sri Lanka vs Singapore A

Team Skin 01 Skin 02 Skin 03 Skin 04 Total
Sri Lanka 30 41 38 34 143
Singapore A 20 -3 22 37 76

Sri Lanka vs UAE

Team Skin 01 Skin 02 Skin 03 Skin 04 Total
Sri Lanka 28 10 28 25 91
UAE 10 12 12 10 44

Sri Lanka vs Malaysia

Team Skin 01 Skin 02 Skin 03 Skin 04 Total
Sri Lanka 29 1 30 32 92
Malaysia 9 6 9 1 25

Sri Lanka vs India

Team Skin 01 Skin 02 Skin 03 Skin 04 Total
Sri Lanka 21 28 -5 23 67
India 7 9 27 10 53

Sri Lanka vs New Zealand

Team Skin 01 Skin 02 Skin 03 Skin 04 Total
Sri Lanka 19 10 0 35 64
New Zealand 31 27 39 4 91

Semi Finals

Sri Lanka vs UAE

Team Skin 01 Skin 02 Skin 03 Skin 04 Total
Sri Lanka 17 10 35 6 68
UAE 25 -12 2 15 30

New Zealand vs India

Team Skin 01 Skin 02 Skin 03 Skin 04 Total
New Zealand 34 23 15 23 95
India -1 24 18 11 52

Final

Sri Lanka vs New Zealand

Team Skin 01 Skin 02 Skin 03 Skin 04 Total
Sri Lanka 6 15 13 26 60
New Zealand 17 21 19 14 71

 

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