Sri Lanka recorded a convincing 38-run win over Papua New Guinea in their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 warm-up encounter played at Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Batting first, Sri Lanka posted a reasonable score of 162 for 5 from their 20 overs. The islanders tested out a new opening combo – Dhananjaya De Silva and Pathum Nissanka. However, De Silva made only 1 run off 5 balls. Charith Asalanka, batting at number three scored only 8 runs off 12 balls.
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Pathum Nissanka and Avishka Fernando started off slowly but as the innings progressed, upped the ante. Sri Lanka were 61 for 2 at the halfway stage, but Nissanka and Fernando managed to weather the storm to blast 101 runs in the last 10 overs. Nissanka made 76 off 58 balls, while Fernando made 61 off 37 balls.
Chasing 163 runs to win, Papua New Guinea were undone by Dushmantha Chameera early. However, they continued to keep the scoreboard moving. Dasun Shanaka and Lahiru Kumara chipped in with a wicket each in the first 13 overs.
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Some tight bowling by Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana dented the chase. The Sri Lankan bowlers continued to put pressure on the batters as they restricted them to 124 for 7 registering a 38-run win in the end.
Sri Lanka’s ace spinner Hasaranga and speedster Chameera once again stood up with the ball capturing 2 wickets each for the islanders.
