After Pathum Nissanka had rescued Sri Lanka from 120/6 in the 16th over to carry the team to 152, senior quick Dushmantha Chameera struck thrice in the powerplay to break the back of the UAE chase in a must-win game for both teams at Kardinia Park in Geelong.
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The 79-run win gave Sri Lanka a much-needed Net Run Rate boost, heightening their chances of going through to the next round, given that they beat the Netherlands in their final 1st round game.
After being put into bat, Sri Lanka started off in brisk fashion with Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka racing to 42 in just over 4 overs. The dismissal of Mendis stalled Sri Lanka for a couple of overs but Dhananjaya de Silva eventually got going to make 33 off 21.
De Silva and Nissanka were then involved in a terrible mix-up in the 12th over, which saw the former walking back to the pavilion. The run-out proved to be the turning point of the innings, with Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Charith Asalanka and Dasun Shanaka falling off consecutive deliveries 2 overs later to give Karthik Meiyyappan UAE’s first T20I hattrick.
A loose shot from Wanindu Hasaranga, with four and a half overs remaining put Sri Lanka in dire straits, but Nissanka stood tall to help them put together a competitive total. This was Nissanka’s 4th fifty across 2 T20 World Cups (in 10 games).
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With 152 to defend, the game was all but done by the end of the power play, with Chameera and Pramod Madushan picking up 4 wickets as UAE scored just 23. The former wasn’t at his fastest, but even at 135+ the UAE batters were often beaten for pace as Chameera ripped through the defences of Muhammed Waseem and Aryan Lakra in the same over before Pramod Madushan saw to Chirag Suri.
The UAE never recovered from that point, losing wickets at regular intervals to give Sri Lanka a massive win and signal the end of their chances of progressing in the tournament.
With the win, Sri Lanka have climbed to No. 3 on the table behind Namibia, with a NRR of 0.600, but will need a win against the Netherlands to ensure that they get to the next round.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Basil Hameed b Zahoor Khan | 74 | 60 | 6 | 2 | 123.33 |
| Kusal Mendis | lbw b Aryan Lakra | 18 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 138.46 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | run out (Aayan Afzal Khan) | 33 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 157.14 |
| Bhanuka Rajapaksa | c Kashif Daud b Karthik Meiyappan | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 71.43 |
| Charith Asalanka | c Vriitya Aravind b Karthik Meiyappan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Dasun Shanaka | b Karthik Meiyappan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Wanidu Hasaranga | c Basil Hameed b Aayan Afzal Khan | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Chamika Karunaratne | c Kashif Daud b Zahoor Khan | 8 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 72.73 |
| pramod madushan | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Dushmantha Chameera | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 10 (b 0 , lb 4 , nb 0, w 6, pen 0) |
| Total | 152/8 (20 Overs, RR: 7.6) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junaid Siddique | 4 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Kashif Daud | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14.00 | |
| Zahoor Khan | 4 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 6.50 | |
| Aayan Afzal Khan | 3 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 5.33 | |
| Aryan Lakra | 3 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 8.00 | |
| Karthik Meiyappan | 4 | 0 | 19 | 3 | 4.75 | |
| Basil Hameed | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muhammad Waseem | b Dushmantha Chameera | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Chirag Suri | b pramod madushan | 14 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 73.68 |
| Aryan Lakra | b Dushmantha Chameera | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Chundangapoyil Rizwan | c Bhanuka Rajapaksa b Dushmantha Chameera | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Vriitya Aravind | lbw b Wanidu Hasaranga | 9 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Basil Hameed | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Dasun Shanaka | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Aayan Afzal Khan | b Wanidu Hasaranga | 19 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 90.48 |
| Kashif Daud | lbw b Wanidu Hasaranga | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Karthik Meiyappan | st Kusal Mendis b Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Junaid Siddique | c Pathum Nissanka b Maheesh Theekshana | 18 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 112.50 |
| Zahoor Khan | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 2 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 73/10 (17.1 Overs, RR: 4.25) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pramod madushan | 3 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 4.67 | |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 3.1 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 4.84 | |
| Dushmantha Chameera | 3.5 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 4.29 | |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7.00 | |
| Wanidu Hasaranga | 4 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 2.00 | |
| Dasun Shanaka | 1.1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 6.36 | |
>>ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022<<
