Sadeera Samarawickrama’s 91* led a measured run-chase from Sri Lanka in their comfortable five-wicket win over Netherlands in Lucknow. It was the first victory for Sri Lanka in the 2023 World Cup.
At the halfway mark, the Kusal Mendis-led side looked up against it after Netherlands posted 262, mainly thanks to a middle-order rescue act from Sybrand Engelbrecht (70) and Logan van Beek (59) but a run-a-ball fifty from Nissanka at the top of the order meant that defending a par score was always going to be difficult.
For Nissanka, it was his third consecutive World Cup fifty which set the tone for his side at the top of the order. His 52-run stand with Samarawickrama helped Sri Lanka calm nerves after twin strikes of Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis by Aryan Dutt, both batters falling to attacking shots against the spinning ball. Once Nissanka fell caught behind off Paul van Meekeren’s bowling, Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka added 77 crucial runs while fighting through some quality overs from Dutt, the offspinner extracting plenty from the red-soil pitch on offer.
Samarawickrama, who scored 7 boundaries in his 107-ball knock, played with patience on a pitch that demanded it. A 76-run stand for the fifth wicket with Dhananjaya de Silva all but sealed the win for Sri Lanka.
Earlier, it wasn’t the best of starts for Netherlands who opted to bat but soon found themselves reeling at 91 for 6. That’s when Engelbrecht and van Beek added 130, which is now the highest partnership for seventh wicket or below in World Cups.
It all started with Kasun Rajitha trapping Vikramjit Singh LBW with an inswinger in the fourth over of the match. The pacer, in his long seven-over opening spell, also added the wickets of Max O’Dowd and Colin Ackermann. Dilshan Madushanka, brought back into the attack after the drinks break, struck in back-to-back overs, making things even worse for Netherlands. While Bas de Leede ramped Madushanka straight to third man, the left-arm pacer needed a review to trap Teja Nidamanuru LBW.
A scoreline of 71/5 became 91/6 when Maheesh Theekshana went through the defences of Scott Edwards and it looked like the side would be bundled out sooner rather than later. That’s when Engelbrecht and van Beek set themselves up for the long haul, picking singles and couples.
There was, in fact, a period in Netherlands’ innings where they didn’t score a boundary for almost 21 overs. Engelbrecht broke off from that dry spell with a sweep against Dushan Hemantha in the 31st over. Both batters went on to score their maiden ODI half-centuries, with Engelbrecht being the more aggressive batter during the partnership.
The breakthrough for Sri Lanka came only in the 46th over, when Engelbrecht missed a scoop against Madushanka’s yorker. From there on, Netherlands’ 221/6 soon turned into 262 all-out with two balls left in the innings. Rajitha added the wicket of van Beek to return match figures of 4 for 50 while Madushanka’s scalp of van der Merwe helped him register figures of 4 for 49.
Brief Scores: Netherlands 262 in 49.4 overs (Engelbrecht 70, van Beek 59; Madushanka 4-49, Rajitha 4-50) lost to Sri Lanka 263/5 in 48.2 overs (Samarawickrama 91*, Nissanka 54; Dutt 3-44) by 5 wickets
