ICC T20 World Cup 2022, IRE vs SL: All-round Sri Lanka has it easy over Ireland
Sri Lanka produced an all-round display to tame Ireland by nine wickets in Super 12 of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Hobart on Sunday. Lanka has been commendable in the tournament so far.
FollowIt was an all-round performance from former champion Sri Lanka against Ireland in its Super 12 clash of the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Sunday. The former scripted a commanding nine-wicket win, winning its third tournament game. Despite getting off to a losing start against Namibia in the group stage, it bounced back in style to win the remaining couple of matches to seal its Super 12 berth, where it is off to a winning start. Opener Kusal Mendis played the crucial role in this victory, slamming an unbeaten 43-ball 68, while all the bowlers played their part in taking wickets.
Winning the toss, Ireland opted to bat. It lost a couple for 24 by the fifth over of the Powerplay before going down to 60/4 by the tenth. Harry Tector (45) and George Dockrell (14) added 47 for the fourth wicket before the latter fell in the 17th, while the Irish finished on 128/8, as they lacked enough promising stands.
CATCH ALL ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2022 UPDATES HERE
For Lanka, spinners Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga grabbed a couple of wickets each, while the former was economical. In reply, it was an easy ride for the Lankans right from the beginning. Openers Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva (31) put on 63 runs before the latter was dismissed in the ninth.
However, it hardly mattered for the Lankans, as the emphatic start had given Mendis and Charith Asalanka (31*) enough confidence to see the chase through, winning by nine wickets with 30 balls to spare, while the former slammed his ninth Twenty20 International (T20I) half-century. The only wicket-taker for Ireland was leg-spinner Gareth Delany who was also economical.
Brief scores: IRE 128/8 (Stirling- 34, Tector- 45; Theekshana- 2/19) lost to SL 133/1 in 15 overs (Mendis- 68*, de Silva- 31, Asalanka- 31; Delany- 1/28) by nine wickets.
