Sri Lanka clip the wings of flying Dutchmen to enter Super 12’s. – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE (eLanka Sports Editor)
It was a game not for the faint hearted as Sri Lanka made heavy work of an assignment meant to be a formality before advancing to the Super 12’s against a spirited Netherlands.
The highly rated Lankans did nothing to let the rest of the world sit up and take notice and be excited of what to expect from them as their batters struggled to come to grips with the two paced wicket at Kardinia Park before scrambling to safety and finally able to post a defendable score.
The Papare band blared, the fans were over exuberant as the norm, but the early mood in the air was one of trepidation and anxiety about the unknown as they scratched and struggled to 36 for 2 off the first 6.4 overs.
Compounding their woes was a bad decision not to review Dhananjaya De Silva’s LBW decision which was clearly missing leg stump.
There was bounce and movement off the air, and the ball spun a fair way making run making difficult early. The second phase was quite a contrast as the Dutchmen found runs easy to come by. Even against a potent Sri Lanka attack.
All the hype surrounding the Asia Cup champions dissipated quickly in this must win game as the floundering Sri Lankan batsmen rode on a Lone Ranger once more. This time it was Kusal Mendis after Pathum Nissanka in the the last, who almost single-handedly steered them to a total of safety.
Kusal Mendis was back to his absolute best, pacing his innings with patience and concentration, exercising relative control over his normal instinctive style. It paid off in a match winning innings. He steered the ship from troubled waters with a memorable innings of 79 from 44 balls with 5 sixers and 5 fours in a man- of- the – match performance.
If there was a reflection for a gallant Netherlands in this game, they are up to take on the best on their day. They showed enough spirit to announce themselves as up to a challenge against anyone.
They took on the target with gusto and seemed on course to chase it down. But they were foiled by a sustained spell by Sri Lanka’s new guns in world cricket, Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theeksheena who reined in the Dutch batsmen to put them on course for a super 12 berth.
Netherlands opener Max O’Dowd defiantly stood between a Sri Lankan sweep and a probable boilover as he bashed and smashed his way to a valiant 71 off 44 balls with 3 sixers and 6 fours. For a while he had Sri Lankan fans in a flutter towards the end. But the game had got away by then.
Sri Lanka will need a different mindset in the main event if they are to justify their advance against the teams in group A.
Much will depend on the mental reset and an all round contribution, particularly in their batting which has been fragile to say the least except for Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis and to a lesser extent Charith Asalanka and Bhanuka Rajapakse. The middle order has been found wanting.
UAE produced another shock of the competition by knocking out fancied Namibia to give the Netherlands an unexpected entry to the main event.
The shell shocked Namibians were heavily touted to proceed to the next stage until the UAE decided winning their first World Cup game was more important.
