Vusumuzi Dube
Brandon Moyo
SRI Lankan spinners once again stepped up and showed their class as they helped their side register a tight 21 runs win over Netherlands in their first match of the Super Six earlier today at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Sri Lankan batter had a tough outing in the middle being bowled out for 213 runs all out in 47,4 overs. Their bowlers were up to the task of defending their low score, restricting the Dutch to 192 runs all out in 40 overs.
It took a Dhananjaya de Silva half century to help Sri Lanka reach what would be a defendable total. De Silva fell seven runs short of his ton on 93 runs from 111 runs. No other Lankan batter managed to score a half century with the second leading run getter being Dimuth Karunaratne with 33 runs off 52 balls.
Logan Van Beek and Bas De Leed finished with the best bowling figures for Netherlands, both taking three wickets for 26 and 42 runs respectively.
In their defense, the lethal Sri Lankan spinners put up another brilliant performance. This time it was Maheesh Theekshana who had the best figures, finishing on 3/31 in nine overs while the tournament’s leading wicket taker, Wanindu Hasaranga took two for 53 runs in his 10 over spell.
Netherlands skipper, Scott Edwards put up a gallant fight with the bat, finishing undefeated on 67 runs from 68 balls while Wesley Baressi was run out for 52 runs off 50 deliveries.
The win meant that Sri Lanka move to the top of the Super Six standing with six points tied with Zimbabwe. The Asian champions are have a superior net run rate than that of the hosts. The two sides play against each other on Sunday at Queens Sports Club. – @brandon_malvin
Online Reporter