263/5 (48.2)
CR : 5.44
262/10 (49.4)
CR : 5.28
Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets 🏆
Player of the Match
Sadeera Samarawickrama
91(107)
48.1
0
C Ackermann to D Hemantha
A dot to start the penultimate over. Flighted delivery on off, Hemantha drives at it and gets it off the outer half of the bat to cover point.
48.2
4
C Ackermann to D Hemantha
FOUR!!!! Hemantha finishes things in style. Ackermann bowls an off-break on a length on the stumps, Hemantha steps out of the crease and smokes it over the mid wicket fielder for a boundary. One bounce and into the fence. With this, Sri Lanka register their first win of the World Cup 2023 by beating the Netherlands by five wickets.
SL won by 5 wickets
6:27 PM IST, Local Time | Sri Lanka are finally off the mark in World Cup 2023! After losing their first 3 games, they bounce back today to defeat a determined Netherlands side by 5 wickets!
Netherlands won the toss and elected to bat first, and they were off to a bad start. After a decent first power-play where they registered 48/2, Sri Lanka turned the screws on in the middle phase to reduce the Dutch side to 91/6 after 21.2 overs. Netherlands were rocked and a low total followed up with a swift victory was on the cards for Sri Lanka.
However, the duo of Engelbrecht and Logan van Beek had different ideas. The duo played with grit and determination to register a 130 run-partnership with Engelbrecht eventually scoring 70 runs off 82 balls and Logan registering 59 runs off 75 balls to power their team to a competitive total of 263 All out.
Rajitha and Madushanka were the pick of the bowlers for their figures of 4/50 and 4/49 respectively. Sri Lanka's strategy was questionable here as they removed their strike bowlers from attack at 91/6 and allowed the Dutch back in the game, who made the most of the opportunity.
Come the chase, Sri Lanka had a quiet start to the powerplay and lost the wicket of Kusal Perera in the 5th over with the scoreboard reading 18. From there on, it was all about small partnerships for the Lankan side.
After a short partnership with skipper Mendis, Nissanka registered a 52 run-stand with Samarawickrama. Nissanka fell just after reaching his half-century, and Samarawickrama followed it up with a crucial 77 and 76 run-stands with Asalanka and de Silva to take his team home.
Samarawickrama was the star of the show with a gritty unbeaten innings of 91 runs from 107 balls to take his team over the line and grab the crucial two points for their World Cup hopes.
Netherlands meanwhile put up a brilliant performance full of determination and a high level of performance but unfortunately they were 10-15 runs short of victory! Aryan Dutt's bowling performance was mercurial as the spinner grabbed the figures of 3/44 from 10 overs to put Sri Lanka under pressure and take the game deep.
Netherlands won the toss and elected to bat first, and they were off to a bad start. After a decent first power-play where they registered 48/2, Sri Lanka turned the screws on in the middle phase to reduce the Dutch side to 91/6 after 21.2 overs. Netherlands were rocked and a low total followed up with a swift victory was on the cards for Sri Lanka.
However, the duo of Engelbrecht and Logan van Beek had different ideas. The duo played with grit and determination to register a 130 run-partnership with Engelbrecht eventually scoring 70 runs off 82 balls and Logan registering 59 runs off 75 balls to power their team to a competitive total of 263 All out.
Rajitha and Madushanka were the pick of the bowlers for their figures of 4/50 and 4/49 respectively. Sri Lanka's strategy was questionable here as they removed their strike bowlers from attack at 91/6 and allowed the Dutch back in the game, who made the most of the opportunity.
Come the chase, Sri Lanka had a quiet start to the powerplay and lost the wicket of Kusal Perera in the 5th over with the scoreboard reading 18. From there on, it was all about small partnerships for the Lankan side.
After a short partnership with skipper Mendis, Nissanka registered a 52 run-stand with Samarawickrama. Nissanka fell just after reaching his half-century, and Samarawickrama followed it up with a crucial 77 and 76 run-stands with Asalanka and de Silva to take his team home.
Samarawickrama was the star of the show with a gritty unbeaten innings of 91 runs from 107 balls to take his team over the line and grab the crucial two points for their World Cup hopes.
Netherlands meanwhile put up a brilliant performance full of determination and a high level of performance but unfortunately they were 10-15 runs short of victory! Aryan Dutt's bowling performance was mercurial as the spinner grabbed the figures of 3/44 from 10 overs to put Sri Lanka under pressure and take the game deep.
Player of the Match: Sadeera Samarawickrama
Sadeera Samarawickrama (Player of the Match): "Really happy to finish the game for my team because we wanted a win as we haven't done well in the last three games. Really happy with the performance.
The wicket was a bit two-paced. The bowlers were bowling well and I tried to take it deep and play maximum overs. I tried to do the basics right. The wicket was turning and gripping every time. So my plan to the others was to bat it deep and can't afford to lose wickets.
Today, it was hard to play the spinners. The ball was gripping and turning. So it was a bit tough to face the spinners today."
The wicket was a bit two-paced. The bowlers were bowling well and I tried to take it deep and play maximum overs. I tried to do the basics right. The wicket was turning and gripping every time. So my plan to the others was to bat it deep and can't afford to lose wickets.
Today, it was hard to play the spinners. The ball was gripping and turning. So it was a bit tough to face the spinners today."
Scott Edwards (Netherlands Captain): "It was an interesting one. We didn't start well. That is an obvious one. But we got to a competitive total. We didn't pick wickets with the new ball and bowled too many boundary balls.
We will speak about it. Our bowlers have been fantastic for us throughout the tournament but batting and bowling were not up to the mark today.
We could have executed it better. We thought it would turn but it did very much as the game progressed. Again, our batting hasn't quite clicked yet. The batters have got starts but have failed to kick on.
Engelbrecht and Logan played brilliantly to put together a 130-run partnership but the other batters let them down. We have had a good success batting first but are not too stressed about the toss. When it was eight balls, they were cruising at the back end of their innings."
We will speak about it. Our bowlers have been fantastic for us throughout the tournament but batting and bowling were not up to the mark today.
We could have executed it better. We thought it would turn but it did very much as the game progressed. Again, our batting hasn't quite clicked yet. The batters have got starts but have failed to kick on.
Engelbrecht and Logan played brilliantly to put together a 130-run partnership but the other batters let them down. We have had a good success batting first but are not too stressed about the toss. When it was eight balls, they were cruising at the back end of their innings."
Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka Captain): "Yes we are happy today to get the first win in the world cup. We did well in all departments and that's why we won the game. Our bowlers did very well in the first 10 overs, Rajitha and Madushanka bowled really well. 280 was a par score here with the turn at the end of the match, so we struggled a little bit but we made it.
I think I could have bowled Rajitha straight away but he had only 3 overs left so I had to save it for later. Maybe he could have bowled one over and taken a wicket to change the game.
Pathum and Sadeera played really well along with Asalanka, we had a lot of positives from the batting unit. Sadeera batted really well and that's why we could chase down the 260+ score today."
I think I could have bowled Rajitha straight away but he had only 3 overs left so I had to save it for later. Maybe he could have bowled one over and taken a wicket to change the game.
Pathum and Sadeera played really well along with Asalanka, we had a lot of positives from the batting unit. Sadeera batted really well and that's why we could chase down the 260+ score today."
6:44 PM IST, Local Time | Well that's all for this match as Sri Lanka open their account in this World Cup! Hop on to our coverage of the other match today where England need to chase down their highest ever target in ODI history to defeat South Africa!
This is Anirudh Modi, signing off along with my co-commentator Akshay Bhide and Ayan Chatterjee, and our scorer/analyst Zeeshan Naiyer! See you on the next one.
This is Anirudh Modi, signing off along with my co-commentator Akshay Bhide and Ayan Chatterjee, and our scorer/analyst Zeeshan Naiyer! See you on the next one.