Kosal Mendes hit a timely half-century and Venendu Hasaranga took three wickets as Sri Lanka beat the Netherlands by 16 runs to book a place in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup in Geelong on Thursday.
The wicketkeeper-batsman’s 44 off 79 lifted Sri Lanka to 162 for six on a sunny afternoon at Cardinia Park, before Talismati Hasaranga took the Netherlands to nine wickets despite opener Max O’Dowd’s unbeaten 71. But helped to restrict it to 146.
The win moved Sri Lanka ahead of second-placed Netherlands in Group A, while the winless UAE crashed out of the tournament.
Sri Lanka were stunned by Namibia in their first qualifier, but clinched their campaign by defeating the United Arab Emirates.
“We knew coming into the World Cup that we would be favorites in the group,” said captain Dasan Shanaka.
“Unfortunately we got knocked out in the first game, but we regrouped and we came back strong.
“I thought batting on the wicket was not easy, it was a bit two-faced. So I thought in the first 10 overs we managed to control the scoring rate very well.
Holland have a nervous wait for the late game between third-placed Namibia and the United Arab Emirates at Kardinia Park.
Victory for Namibia would see the Africans advance at the expense of the Netherlands as one of the top two sides in the group at a high run rate.
“Hopefully the UAE will help us, but it was in our hands and just disappointed we weren’t there tonight,” said Netherlands captain Scott Edwards.
Due to injuries in Sri Lanka’s bowling line-up, the Asia Cup champions brought in Lahiru Kumara and left-armer Banura Fernando to replace Dushantha Chimera, who was ruled out of the tournament on Wednesday, and Pramod Madhushan was ruled out.
The substitute seamers took one wicket apiece, while Mahesh Thiekshana took 2-32 in front of a modest but enthusiastic Sri Lankan crowd.
The Netherlands started well in their chase but fell to grief after the powerplay wound up, losing two wickets in four balls to take their score to 47 for three in the seventh over.
The runs dried up as all-rounder Hasringa went to work with his legspin and Shanaka bowled cleanly.
Needing 100 runs in the last 10 overs, the Netherlands struggled to get out but Hasringa’s quick double strike in the 17th over wrapped up the match.
