LUCKNOW: Thanks to a gritty, unbeaten 91 by Sadeera Samarawickrama, Sri Lanka managed to register their maiden victory in the World Cup on Saturday after enduring three losses on the trot. The day belonged to Samarawickrama who held his nerves to score an unbeaten 91 off 107 deliveries to guide Sri Lanka to a clinical five-wicket win over the Netherlands.
Pathum Nissanka (54 off 52 balls) set the stage for Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka who had a 77-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
The Netherlands did not have a good start and at one time were tottering at 91/6. A 130-run stand between Sybrand Engelbrecht and Logan van Beek ensured that the team scored a decent total of 262.
Chasing, Sri Lanka also had their own struggle as they lost skipper Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera cheaply. It was then left to Sarawekerema as Sri Lanka successfully chased the target with 10 balls to spare.
There was no way Sri Lanka could have taken the Dutch lightly as the latter had come here after upsetting South Africa in Dharamshala in their previous match. However, spinners Aryan Dutt and Roelof van der Merwe could not create the same magic.
Sri Lanka bring Netherlands crashing back to reality at World Cup
The bowlers either strayed on to the leg, or bowled wide off the off-stump even as the Lankan batters took singles and twos to keep the scoreboard ticking.
Earlier, after Edwards and company crumbled, the seventh wicket partnership of 130 runs came as a booster for the Dutch. Allrounder Engelbrecht hit 70 off 82 balls and Logan van Beek scored 59 runs off 75 balls to help the Netherlands post 262.
Engelbrecht, who came in at No 7, hit one six and four boundaries.
Medium pacer Dilshan Madhushanaka (4/49) and Kasun Rajitha (4/50) inflicted maximum damage on the opponents. Spinner Maheesh Theekshana also took one wicket.
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