A masterful assault by Sri Lankan bowlers resulted in an emphatic 9-wicket win over Netherlands at the ICC World T20 group game played in Chittagong today.
The Sri Lankans, who were also the opponents when Zimbabwe scored the lowest team total in an ODI (36), bowled out the Dutch for a paltry 39 runs, setting the record yet again for the lowest team score in an international T20. The commanding victory will brighten their hopes of entering the semi-final along with a superior net run rate.
Upon winning the toss, skipper Dinesh Chandimal elected to field while Stephan Myburgh and Michael Swart opened the proceedings for the Dutch. However it took only 3 deliveries for Nuwan Kulasekara to send Myburgh back to the pavilion for a duck when Lasith Malinga took a routine catch at deep. Myburgh’s partner Michael Swart did not last for long as he was caught by Kumar Sangakkara off the bowling of Angelo Mathews in the following over.
New batsman Wesley Barresi was caught by Chandimal in the very next ball leaving Mathews with a hat-trick ball. But the ongoing progress was halted for several minutes due to a floodlight failure at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium as Netherlands who were struggling at 1/3 obtained some breathing space from the Sri Lankan bowling attack.
The Dutch skipper Peter Borren who eventually survived the hat-trick was later removed by Mathews when the score was mere 9 runs. A possible resistance by the Australian-born right handed batsman Tom Cooper was prevented when he departed for 16 runs off the bowling of Ajantha Mendis. Lasith Malinga later joined the party with Mendis to shatter the tail-end with his trademark yorkers. Wickets kept tumbling for Netherlands as they were 35/6 after 9 overs and subsequently being bowled out for 39 runs recording the lowest team total at an international T20.
Chasing a score of 39 runs, the Sri Lankan batsmen reached the target in just 5 overs with Kusal Perera top scoring with 14 runs. Next,the Sri Lankans will be facing England on Thursday.
Chief Scores:
Netherlands: 39 all out in 10.3 overs (Tom Cooper 16, Ben Cooper 8; Ajantha Mendis 3 for 12, Angelo Mathews 3 for 16, Lasith Malinga 2 for 5)
Sri Lanka: 40/1 in 5 overs (Kusal Perera 14, T.M. Dilshan 12, Mahela Jayawardene 11; Ahsan Malik 1 for 18)
Man of the match: Angelo Mathews
Full Scorecard (Statistics from espncricinfo.com)
