Sri Lanka beat Ireland by a huge margin of 70 runs after scoring 171 runs to seal a place in the Super 12s of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Sri Lanka massively outplayed Ireland in all departments and cruised further, indicating that they indeed are a full-member side. Because of the loss, now Ireland will have to win their next encounter versus Netherlands in an “eliminator” scenario.
The Rescue Act of Wanindu and Pathum
An on-song Josh Little had Sri Lanka 8/3 in the first ten balls of the match, with Stirling sharing the honours. However, when Wanindu Hasaranga joined Pathum Nissanka, the duo did both the repairing and accelerating job. The duo added 123 runs for the fourth wicket and kept the run flow going throughout the partnership. Hasarange made a stunning 71 runs off 47 balls before Mark Adair had him caught.
Then Irish pacers did a superb job in the death overs and if not for a 11-ball 21 runs knock by skipper Dasun Shanaka, they could have limited Sri Lanka around 160. But Dasun’s two fours and a six gave Lankans a winning total. Little continued to be one of the more attacking Associate bowlers and ended up with four wickets for 23 runs. Mark Adair had two for 35, while Craig Young displayed superb control, spending just 24 runs in four overs. Simi Singh and Curtis Campher both squandered a lot of runs.
What went wrong for the Irish men?
Everything that could go wrong for Ireland’s batting went wrong. The team lost both its openers by the score of 18 and Gareth Delany also joined them when the chase had just hit 32 runs. Curtis Campher and Andy Balbirnie did dig in their feet, compiling 53 runs in 51 balls, but when the required rate reached over 12 runs per over, the team folded while looking to close the gap. When Campher fell at the score of 85, after making 24 runs, the innings fell apart. The last seven wickets accounted for a mere 16 runs as the scoreboard pressure mounted out of grasp. Balbirnie did make 41 runs, but nine batters didn’t even go past single figures.
Sri Lanka had an all-around bowling performance, Theekshana had a second three-wicket haul in a row, Kumara once again disturbed the batters, claiming two wickets, Karunaratne had two wickets, while Chameera bowled a superb spell, claiming a wicket. Wanindu Hasaranga once again bowled in an empathic fashion, ending up as the most economical bowler in the match, giving just 12 runs in four overs for a wicket. Fittingly, Hasaranga also bagged the Player of the Match Award.