Sri Lanka down the Netherlands to open World Cup account
Sadeera Samarawickrama’s unbeaten 91 has enabled Sri Lanka to earn their first win of the World Cup as they beat the Netherlands by five wickets and 10 balls to spare in Lucknow.
Chasing 263 to win on Saturday, Samarawickrama enabled Sri Lanka to prevail with his patient knock off 107 balls, adding to his century against Pakistan, as they wrapped up the contest in the 49th over.
The Netherlands had won the toss and opted to bat first but were soon on the back foot after Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers Kasun Rajitha and Dilshan Madushanka ran through the top and middle order.
The European side were reeling at 6-91 when Australian-raised skipper Scott Edwards was sent back to the pavilion by Maheesh Theekshana before Sybrand Engelbrecht (70) and Logan van Beek (59) rescued the Dutch side with a 130-run partnership.
The pair rotated strike and guided their team to a competitive total but were bundled out for 262 in the final over as Rajitha (4-50) and Madushanka (4-49) finished with four wickets each.
In response, Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka laid the foundation for their chase with a knock of 54 that included nine boundaries before Samarawickrama guided them home to become the last of the 10 competing teams to record their first win of the World Cup.
“It was a challenging batting situation,” Samarawickrama said post-match. “Their bowlers bowled very well and the wicket was very supportive of them.
“As the overs progressed, it became evident that the pitch was offering more assistance to their bowlers than it did when we were bowling.
“We aimed to prolong the match as deep as we could. If we couldn’t achieve that, there wasn’t much else we could do.
“Our bowlers performed admirably today, benefitting from favourable pitch conditions and in particular, Kasun Rajitha and Dilshan Madushanka exhibited exceptional performances right from the beginning.”
Aryan Dutt (3-44) was the pick of the Dutch bowlers with three wickets, dismissing Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis cheaply before adding Charith Asalanka (44) in his final over.
But Engelbrecht said the Dutch bowlers just couldn’t string enough good balls together for long enough to put the Sri Lanka team under pressure.
“They were quite clinical in the way that they executed,” he said. “They were able to absorb the pressure and then transfer the pressure onto us.
“I thought they batted really well and I think they just outplayed us.”
Sri Lanka now have two points from four games, with the Netherlands also on two points, but they sit seventh in the standings with a better net run-rate than Sri Lanka, England and Afghanistan.
The Netherlands next play Australia in Delhi on Wednesday, while Sri Lanka face England on Thursday. (Cricket.com.au)
