Sri Lanka rebound from opening loss
GEELONG, Australia, Oct 18, (AP): Former champions Sri Lanka rebounded from an upset opening loss by thrashing the United Arab Emirates and boosting their hopes of advancing at the Twenty20 World Cup on Tuesday.
The Sri Lankans still face uncertainty over reaching the Super 12 stage. There’s rain in the forecast for Thursday when they’re scheduled to play surprising group leaders the Netherlands, which added a five-wicket, last-over win over Namibia to their last-ball win over the UAE on the weekend.
The top two teams in each preliminary group progress to the Super 12, which starts this weekend.
Sri Lanka lost to Namibia but the teams are tied on competition points. If the Sri Lankans beat the Netherlands and Namibia beat the UAE in their last group games, three teams would be tied on points and net run rate would come into the equation to determine who advance.
Sri Lanka got off to a good start against the UAE, reaching 92-1 in 11 overs. But legspinner Karthik Meiyappan produced UAE’s first ever hat trick - and just the fifth in T20 World Cups - and soon Sri Lanka were in trouble at 120-6.
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“I bowled a googly to (captain Dasun) Shanaka and it seems he was expecting the leg break,” Meiyappan said. “Extremely delighted to get the first hat trick for UAE. It’s a proud moment.”
Opening batter Pathum Nissanka bailed his team out of trouble with 74 runs from 60 deliveries. There was some improvisation by Nissanka, who hit six fours and two sixes.
“It was a special knock by Pathum,” Sri Lanka coach Chris Silverwood said. “Glad he batted through the innings, and the improvisations that he came up with were superb. The bowlers were superb tonight and it’s a crucial win for us.”
Sri Lanka targeted 140 until the struggle in the middle overs. It was relieved to set a target of 153, which proved too much for UAE, which was bowled out for 73 in 17.1 overs.
Dushmantha Chameera generated extreme pace with the new ball and claimed early wickets as the UAE slumped to 19-3.
Wanindu Hasaranga ran through the middle order and returned 3-8 from four overs, the legspinner unlucky not to get a fourth wicket as substitute fielder Jeffrey Vandersay put down a catch in the deep.
There was some concern toward the end of the UAE innings as Chameera limped off the field without completing his last over with what appeared to be a calf muscle strain. He has just returned from an injury that kept him out Sri Lanka’s run to the title at the Asia Cup.
In the earlier game at Geelong, allrounder Bas de Leede hit the winning runs in a run-a-ball 30 as the Netherlands chased down the target of 122 with three balls to spare.
He earlier took two important wickets to remove Jan Frylinck (43) and Gerhard Erasmus (16) as Namibia was restricted to 121-6 after winning the toss and opting to bat.
The Dutch are the lowest-ranked squad in the tournament at No. 18 but have produced some big upsets in the past including two wins over England.
“I don’t know if we want to be known as the team that takes it down to the last few balls, but obviously stoked to have the two wins on the board,” Netherlands captain Scott Edwards said. “It was a little bit closer than we wanted.”
Edwards said joining the top eight ranked teams in the next round is “well and truly in our hands.”
Max O’Dowd shared a 59-run opening stand with Vikramjit Singh (39) and scored a run-a-ball 35 in two solid partnerships at the top of the order to get the Dutch run chase underway before he was run out by a direct hit at the non-striker’s end, triggering the middle-order collapse.
The Netherlands lost four wickets for 10 runs - including three wickets for a run - to slip from 92-1 to 102-5.
But De Leede, who went in at No. 3, remained composed to guide his team to 122-5.
“I could take a bit of experience from two days ago. It’s nice to back it up again,” De Leede said of the back-to-back narrow wins.
For the Netherlands, advancing may still depend on a win over Sri Lanka in the last group game on Friday.
“The self-belief has always been there,” de Leede said of their wins. “It opens up a bit more freedom for the boys.”