The six nation, New Zealand- Asia Cup tournament concluded yesterday (from 3th-6th April) at the Indoor Premier Cricket stadium, Singapore crowning runners-up in 2017 Indoor Cricket World Cup, New Zealand as the champions and Sri Lanka as runners-up.
Read : Sri Lanka Indoor Cricket team leaves for New Zealand – Asia Cup
The tournament was played between host-nation Singapore (including Singapore A and the national team), Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates and New Zealand.
>>Photo Album : Sri Lanka Indoor Team Preview<<
The Sri Lankan contingent was led by Kolitha Hapuarachchi who has over 10 years of indoor cricket experience. The squad comprised of first-class cricketers like Andy Solomans and Tharindu Mendis.
Video – Coach Asela Pathirana Interview
Sri Lanka squad – Kolitha Hapuarachchi (C), Rumesh Perera (Joint VC), Salman Faris (Joint VC), Tharindu Mendis, Malshan Rodrigo, Andy Solomons, Heshal Silva, Sheehan Wijetunge, Kamal Kuruppu, Kanishka Jayasumane, Nalaka de Silva, Gihan Gunatilleke, Angelo Samuels, Thivanka Dabare, Asela Pathirana (Coach), Dilshan Perumal (Asst. Coach), Asitha Dewpura (Manager), Hiran de Mel (WICF – Delegate)
Video – Captain Kolitha Hapuarchchi interview
Interestingly, the strong India team couldn’t make it to the finals as they were comprehensively beaten by Sri Lanka & UAE in the round robin & semifinals.
| NZ-Asia Cup 2019 – Points Table (League Stage) | |||||
| Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn | Points |
| New Zealand | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 38 |
| Sri Lanka | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 31 |
| UAE | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 27 |
| India | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 23 |
| Singapore | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 17 |
| Singapore A | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| Malaysia | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
Sri Lanka team won 6 out of 7 first round matches quite comfortably, going down only to strong New Zealand 91:64. They qualified to the semi final stage and had to face UAE to advance through to the finals.
Yet again, UAE weren’t a match for this strong Sri Lanka side as they were beaten 68:30. In the other semi final India were beaten by the tournament favourites New Zealand by a huge margin of 43 runs. (95:52)
Deservingly, the best two teams from the lot, Sri Lanka and New Zealand faced each other in the finals and Sri Lanka team’s last pair almost got them through the winning line, failing by just 11 runs and had to be satisfied with the runners-up trophy.
Final – Sri Lanka vs New Zealand – Replay
The final scores read as 71:60 making New Zealand, the champions of NZ-Asia Cup 2019.
Sri Lanka Team Match Results
League Stage
Sri Lanka vs Singapore
| Team | Skin 01 | Skin 02 | Skin 03 | Skin 04 | Total |
| Sri Lanka | 21 | 29 | 5 | 23 | 78 |
| Singapore | 14 | 26 | 8 | 19 | 67 |
Sri Lanka vs Singapore A
| Team | Skin 01 | Skin 02 | Skin 03 | Skin 04 | Total |
| Sri Lanka | 30 | 41 | 38 | 34 | 143 |
| Singapore A | 20 | -3 | 22 | 37 | 76 |
Sri Lanka vs UAE
| Team | Skin 01 | Skin 02 | Skin 03 | Skin 04 | Total |
| Sri Lanka | 28 | 10 | 28 | 25 | 91 |
| UAE | 10 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 44 |
Sri Lanka vs Malaysia
| Team | Skin 01 | Skin 02 | Skin 03 | Skin 04 | Total |
| Sri Lanka | 29 | 1 | 30 | 32 | 92 |
| Malaysia | 9 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 25 |
Sri Lanka vs India
| Team | Skin 01 | Skin 02 | Skin 03 | Skin 04 | Total |
| Sri Lanka | 21 | 28 | -5 | 23 | 67 |
| India | 7 | 9 | 27 | 10 | 53 |
Sri Lanka vs New Zealand
| Team | Skin 01 | Skin 02 | Skin 03 | Skin 04 | Total |
| Sri Lanka | 19 | 10 | 0 | 35 | 64 |
| New Zealand | 31 | 27 | 39 | 4 | 91 |
Semi Finals
Sri Lanka vs UAE
| Team | Skin 01 | Skin 02 | Skin 03 | Skin 04 | Total |
| Sri Lanka | 17 | 10 | 35 | 6 | 68 |
| UAE | 25 | -12 | 2 | 15 | 30 |
New Zealand vs India
| Team | Skin 01 | Skin 02 | Skin 03 | Skin 04 | Total |
| New Zealand | 34 | 23 | 15 | 23 | 95 |
| India | -1 | 24 | 18 | 11 | 52 |
Final
Sri Lanka vs New Zealand
| Team | Skin 01 | Skin 02 | Skin 03 | Skin 04 | Total |
| Sri Lanka | 6 | 15 | 13 | 26 | 60 |
| New Zealand | 17 | 21 | 19 | 14 | 71 |
 at the Indoor Premier Cricket stadium, Singapore crowning runners-up in 2017 Indoor Cricket World Cup, New Zealand as the champions and Sri Lanka as runners-up.){kind=link}