Match Details
Previously in the game, winning the toss, Sri Lanka had opted to bat first. Openers Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka gave the Lankan side a brisk start, and later it was Paul van Meekeren who gained two wickets on back-to-back deliveries to draw the first blood.
Charith Asalanka and Kusal Mendis shifted the tide towards them and built a partnership of 60 runs together. It was Bas de Leede with his golden arm who broke the shackles and initiated a few more scalps for the Dutch side.
Mendis switched gears as the game progressed and therefore steered the total to 162 with tiny supports from the tail. Bas de Leede and Paul van Meekeren bagged two wickets for Netherlands and one was scalped by Fred Klaassen.
Some late-end magic from the Sri Lankan bowlers has ensured that they move to the next stage i.e. Super 12s on this occasion. It was a valiant effort from Max O’Dowd as he steered his side much closer to the target but in the end, the Dutch side had to taste the harsh defeat. O’Dowd would be banging his head to fail to stretch past the finishing line despite coming so near.
Netherlands did look in the game in the first half of the innings but didn’t really could up the ante with the building pressure. It was Max O'Dowd who had to be credited for his insane innings of 71 runs from 53 deliveries.
Earlier, arriving to surmount 163 runs, it was Max O’Dowd and Vikramjit Singh as the opening pair for Netherlands. They lost 2 wickets inside the powerplay, scoring just 40 runs. O’Dowd lacked support from the other end, and the wickets fell in succession. The Sri Lankan spinners controlled the run-scoring rate quite well in the middle stages. It was the duo of Hasaranga and Theekshana which fetched five wickets between them.