By Brian Thomas
Ireland after winning the toss deciding to bowl first stuck gold with the first 2 overs. Kushal Janith Perera must re think his role , out for a duck . He never assessed as to how the pitch would play bu threw his bat at a nothing delivery.
Chandimal was dissapointing yet again. Big Question is he good enough to represent Sri Lanka in this format ? I report you decide.
Avishka Fernando, got a beauty from Josh Little and was beaten neck and crop , timber disturbed, out for a duck , which is a rarerity, because he is a fine player in this format.
Cometh the man , Hasaranga, he proved to all opposition’s, that he is no mug with the bat. He joined Pathum Nisanka, and the pair , stiched a great 123 run partnership for the 4th wicket.
The Irish eyes that were smiling suddenly started tearing with the onslaught. It was an exibition of great batsmanship. So great to watch. Man of the match Hasaranga made 71 , Pathum Nisanka 61, rear guard on slaught of 21 from skipper Dasun Shanaka enabled Sri Lanka from a hopeless situation of 8 runs for 3 wickets to a match winning total of 171.
With Sri Lanka’s strong bowling attack , the Irish were never in the hunt. They simply rolled over in the 18th over for 101 all out.
For the Irish Andrew Balbernie made an impressive 41 , whilst Curtis Campher scored 24. Josh Little impressed in the bowling department when he too 4 Sri Lankan wickets for 23 runs , whilst Mark Adair took 2 for 25.
Mahesh Theekshana for the winners took 4 for 17 , Lahiru Kumara 2 for 22 , Hasaranga miserly 1 for 11 and Dusmantha Chameera 1 for 22 were more than impressive.
Sri Lanka Qualify for the finals , the Irish need to beat Namibia to go through, hence that game will decide the second Qualifyer in Group ” A “.
Interesting games coming up in the next two days. Must win for Scotland against Oman , whilst Bangladesh will fancy their chances when they Play Papua New Guinea.
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