Sri Lanka snapped their winless run in the T20 World Cup 2024 to sign off with a win as the Netherlands bowed out of the tournament on June 17, Monday. Sri Lanka won the match by 83 runs in St. Lucia.
Sri Lanka ended their campaign with a win (courtesy: AP)
New Delhi,UPDATED: Jun 17, 2024 09:24 IST
Sri Lanka ended their winless run in the T20 World Cup 2024 with an 83-run win over Netherlands in St. Lucia on June 17, Monday. Charith Asalanka and Kusal Mendis scored 46 runs each as Sri Lanka posted 201 runs in their innings, becoming only the second team to post a 200-plus score in this year's tournament. Netherlands had come into the contest with a slim hope of making it to the Super 8s but their fate also depended on the Bangladesh vs Nepal clash.
The Netherlands, after winning the toss and opting to bowl first, got off to the perfect start when Kingma was able to dismiss Pathum Nissanka for a duck in the very first over. The Dutch were hoping to pile on the pressure but Kamindu Mendis and Kusal Mendis steadied the ship with a 39-run stand before the former was dismissed for 17. Kusal and Dhananjaya de Silva then took the scoring rate up during their partnership. Kusal scored 46 off 29 balls before he was dismissed in the 12th over, but the platform was set.
Sri Lanka vs Netherlands: Highlights | Scorecard
Dhananjaya and Asalanka continued the onslaught as the former scored 34 off 26 balls before heading back to the pavilion. Asalanka looked to be in fine nick as he scored 46 off 21 balls and hit 5 sixes in his knock as the Dutch bowlers struggled to stop the run flow.
Van Beek provided some respite with two wickets off consecutive deliveries to end Asalanka's stay and dismiss Shanaka for a duck. But, Angelo Mathews and skipper Wanindu Hasaranga ensured Sri Lanka had a big finish.
Hasaranga hit 20 off 6 balls as the Netherlands were given a target of 202. However, they needed to win the game in quick time to stand any chance of qualifying. There was added pressure as Bangladesh were dominating Nepal with the ball after posting just 106 runs.
Michael Levitt was aggressive from the start and scored 31 off 23 balls with a couple of boundaries and 3 sixes. But wickets kept tumbling for the Netherlands as they looked to chase the target in record time. The bowlers led by Hasaranga chipped away the wickets and by the 9th over, the dreaded news came in for Dutch fans.
As Sybrand Engelbrecht departed, Bangladesh in St. Vincent secured a 21-run win against Nepal and secured passage into the Super 8s and knocked out the Netherlands. The Dutch were left playing for pride but none of the batters could hold fort and were reduced to 99 for 8 in the 15th over.
Captain Edwards provided some resistance with 31 runs in the end, but the innings came to an end at 118 in the 17th over. Pathirana was the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets for 12 runs in his 3 overs.
Sri Lanka end wretched campaign on a high
For Sri Lanka and Hasaranga, the match was the end of a wretched campaign in all respects. The team didn't perform well with bat and ball in the matches against South Africa and Bangladesh, something Mahesh Theekshana alluded to.
The Nepal game was completely washed out due to rain in Florida, and they got knocked out. Off the field, the players were left unhappy with the scheduling for the side. Sri Lanka ended up playing at 4 different venues in the group stages and Hasaranga had expressed his displeasure at this as well.
This was his first major tournament as the skipper of the former champions and he would be happy that a win was secured in the end and they signed off on a high. The aim for Sri Lanka will now be another rebuild and it will start with India touring them in July.
Published On:
Jun 17, 2024
English (US) ·