Dinesh Chandimal stroked a superb knock of 83 in 51 deliveries to power Sri Lanka men’s cricket team into the semi-finals of the Incheon Asian Games beating South Korea by 117 runs in their quarter-final fixture played at Yeonhui Cricket Ground.
Sri Lanka commenced their campaign of winning a gold medal after 12 long years when they thrashed the unseeded South Korea in their opening game.
The Korean skipper Kyungsik Kim won the toss of coin and elected to field first. Sri Lanka lost Shehan Jayasuriya as early as the 5th ball of the match when he returned to the pavilion without troubling the scores. Experienced Upul Tharanga and Dinesh Chandimal resurrected the Lankan innings when they thrashed the Korean bowlers to all parts of the ground.
Tharanga and Chandimal scored 126 runs in 84 balls to lay the foundation to a massive score. Tharanga scored 8 boundaries in his 41-ball 54 while Chandimal was destructive as he punished the hapless Korean outfit without any trouble. After the dismissals of Tharanga and Chandimal, Sri Lanka lost momentum in search of quick runs.
Sri Lanka were 148/3 at the 17-over mark but since then no other batsman was able to cross the double digits as Sri Lanka ended their innings on a healthy 172/8 in 20 overs. Left-arm fast bowler Taekwan Park of Korea bowled his quota of 4 overs conceding 16 runs and capturing 4 wickets.
Chasing a daunting target of 173, the South Koreans had no rhythm and skill to blast the Lankan bowlers as they were not upto the mark. After the opening stand battled for 3.2 overs, the Koreans lost wickets at regular intervals. Skipper Kyungsik Kim was the only player to cross the double figures.
Chathuranga De Silva ripped through the late order taking 3 wickets while his leg spinning all-rounder Jeewan Mendis strangled the Koreans taking 2 wickets. The Korean innings lasted 16.4 overs scoring only 55 runs as Sri Lanka completed an easy victory. Sri Lanka will meet the winners of the 4th quarter-final between Bangladesh and Kuwait in the 2nd semi-final which is scheduled to take place on 2nd of October.
Chief Scores:
Sri Lanka – 172/8 in 20 overs : Dinesh Chandimal 83, Upul Tharanga 54, Taekwan Park 4/16.
South Korea – 55 all out in 16.4 overs: Kyungsik Kim 12, Jeewan Mendis 2/13, Chathuranga De Silva 3/8, Kosala Kulasekara 2/3.
