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ABU DHABI – Wanindu Hasaranga starred with a 47-ball 71 and figures of 1-12 as Sri Lanka secured a comfortable 70-run win over Ireland in Group A of the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Josh Little’s career-best T20I figures of 4-23 proved to be in vain as Sri Lanka advanced to the Super 12 stage of the tournament.

Andrew Balbirnie won the toss and chose to bowl first, and Ireland enjoyed a spectacular start with the ball. Kusal Perera departed for a golden duck in the first over of the innings, chipping a Paul Stirling ball to Gareth Delany at cover, before Josh Little made further inroads in the second over: Dinesh Chandimal chopped onto his stumps before Avishka Fernando was bowled from Little’s next delivery, the ball rattling the right-hander’s off stump.

Sri Lanka was reduced to 8-3 inside two overs but recovered thanks to a 123-run partnership between Hasaranga and opening batter Pathum Nissanka. Hasaranga’s first boundary of the day saw him punch Little through the covers for four and he was particularly brutal on Simi Singh, depositing the off-spinner for four consecutive off-side boundaries in the final over of the powerplay.

The two batters kept the scoreboard ticking over, and although Hasaraga took centre stage, he was the first of the pair to depart: in the 16th over he found the hands of Craig Young at short third man after Mark Adair delivered a slower ball.

Little then dismissed Bhanuka Rajapaksa for 1 as Ireland threatened a fightback at the death; the left-armer returned figures of 2-13 from his final two overs. But Dasun Shanaka made sure Sri Lanka finished strongly, hitting 10 runs off the final two balls of Adair’s spell to secure a total of 171-7.

In response, Ireland’s openers departed quickly: Kevin O’Brien (5) fell from the final ball of the first over after Chamika Karunaratne managed to induce a top-edge off the pull shot, with short-fine leg taking the catch; Stirling (7) then swept the ball into the hands of the man in the same position off the bowling of spinner Maheesh Theekshana in the third over.

Hasaranga intervened in the fifth over of the innings, bowling the in-form Gareth Delany for 2 with a googly, but Ireland staged a fightback through Balbirnie and Curtis Campher with a fourth-wicket partnership of 53.

But Campher’s dismissal for 24 in the 13th over prompted a collapse from 85-3 to 101 all out. Sri Lanka’s bowlers were all able to celebrate, with the five men sharing 10 wickets as victory was secured with nine balls to spare.

Ireland faces Namibia in Sharjah on Friday, with the winner of the match to advance to the next stage of the tournament.

Match Summary

Sri Lanka Men v Ireland Men, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Round 1, Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, 20 October 2021

Sri Lanka 171-7 (20 overs; W Hasaranga 71, P Nissanka 61; J Little 4-23)
Ireland 101 (18.3 overs; A Balbirnie 41; M Theekshana 3-17, L Kumara 2-22)

Sri Lanka won by 70 runs

See Full Scorecard


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