Sri Lanka thrash Dutch by eight wickets and 77 balls to spare

 Rex Clementine in  Sharjah

Sri Lanka finished off their World Cup qualifying round in style cruising to a massive eight wicket win with 77 balls to spare against Netherlands here in Sharjah yesterday. With Sri Lanka having already qualified and more than certain of number one slot in the group, the game was a dead rubber but they did not take the foot off the gas.

Netherlands were bowled out for 44 runs in just ten overs and then Sri Lanka knocked off the target without breaking a sweat.

This is the second lowest score in T-20 World Cups. The lowest also belongs to the Dutch who were bowled out for 39 against Sri Lanka in the 2014 World Cup. New Zealand’s 60 all out is the third lowest in World Cups and incidentally that was also against Sri Lanka.

Netherlands had made lot of noise prior to the tournament but they failed to live up to expectations losing all their games and finishing last in the group.

Sri Lanka left out struggling former captain Dinesh Chndimal brining in Charith Asalanka in his place.

They had things under control from the word go with Max ODowd run out by a brilliant piece of fielding by Dasun Shanaka, who is frequently scoring direct hits these days. .

Maheesh Theekshana shared the new ball and bamboozled the Dutch top order mixing up his deliveries cleverly and claimed two wickets in his first over. He went off the field with a side strain and did not return to the field. The Island learns that the bowler is out of danger and Sri Lanka kept him out as a precaution.

Then it was Wanindu Hasaranga’s show as the Dutch struggled to pick his googly and he claimed three wickets.

The Dutch lower middle order and tail were exposed to Lahiru Kumara and Dushmatha Chameera and their class was too good for the opposition as wickets fell at regular intervals. Kumara claimed three wickets for seven runs and bowled a maiden too. The quick has made tremendous progress in the last three months. Chameera settled for one wicket.

Sri Lanka now head into the World Cup with a lot of momentum behind them. Given three of their five World Cup games will be played here in Sharjah and one wonders whether they would have been better off batting first to give some exposure to their batters. However, all’s well that ends well.

Sri Lanka will meet Bangladesh on Sunday in their first World Cup game. Their other games are against Australia, South Africa, England and West Indies.