Ireland well beaten by Sri Lanka in T20 World Cup
BOWLED HIM: Ireland's Captain Andrew Balbirnie is clean bowled off Sri Lanka's Lahiru Kumara during the ICC men's Twenty20 World Cup 2022 cricket match at Bellerive Oval in Hobart. Pic: David Gray/AFP via Getty Images
Ireland succumbed to a nine-wicket defeat in their opening Super 12 game against Sri Lanka.
Winning the toss and choosing to bat, Ireland was forced to battle throughout their innings by a strong Sri Lankan bowling unit. After a quiet first over, Andrew Balbirnie was the first to go, stepping off and attempting to scoop Lahiru Kumara’s first delivery, only for the ball to crash into middle-stump.
Lorcan Tucker and Paul Stirling hit back, flaying three off-side boundaries in the following three overs, but the introduction of spin brought a change in fortunes. Tucker attempted to sweep Maheesh Theekshana fine, but only succeeded in gloving the ball onto his stumps. By this point, Stirling was set, and he proceeded to wrest back some momentum. Chamika Karunaratne was driven straight down the ground and carved for six over point as Ireland finished the powerplay with a flourish.
When Stirling was dropped in Karunaratne’s next over, Kumara running in from long-on but spilling the chance, it appeared his luck might be in, with a firmly struck pull shot off Dhananjaya de Silva bringing another boundary soon after. But the off-spinner hit back immediately, Stirling attempting to go big again but only succeeding in finding the man deep on the off-side.
Curtis Campher fell soon after, cutting Karunaratne to point, but Harry Tector and George Dockrell rallied by putting together the most substantial partnership of the innings. The pair ran hard, facing just three dot balls in their first five overs at the crease together, with Tector finding the fence regularly. Karunaratne was lofted over mid-off, Wanindu Hasaranga pulled mightily for six, and Theekshana reverse swept as Ireland laid the platform for a late-overs surge.
With five overs to go, Ireland were 100-4 and targeting a total in excess of 150, but Sri Lanka put a halt to any hopes of a strong finish.
Hasaranga tied down the run rate and struck twice, conceding just seven runs off his final two overs, with Theekshana bowling Dockrell and leaking only four singles in his final over. Ireland fared slightly better against Binura Fernando, Delany dabbing him to the third-man fence and Simi Singh scooping him fine, giving themselves 128 to defend.
Ireland began tightly in the chase, Josh Little - in his 50th T20I - and Mark Adair conceding just over a run a ball in the first two overs, but boundaries flowed regularly through the remainder of the powerplay. Kusal Mendis hooked Little over fine leg for six, with Dhananjaya getting the same reward for pulling Barry McCarthy square. A pair of Dhananjaya boundaries capped off the first six overs for the Asia Cup champions.
Ireland did beat the bat at times, with a thin UltraEdge spike suggesting that, had they reviewed, Dhananjaya might have been on his way, and they limited Sri Lanka well following the opening burst. The next six overs contained just two boundaries, with Delany nicking off Dhananjaya to give a much-needed breakthrough.
However, having made their way to 89-1 after 12 overs, Sri Lanka were determined to finish things off in a hurry. Mendis edged Delany for four to bring up his fifty before cutting a more convincing boundary next ball, Charith Asalanka notched a pair of boundaries of his own off Little, and Mendis closed out the win in style, a pair of sixes bookending the 15th over and giving Sri Lanka victory by nine wickets.
Ireland’s next game is against England at the MCG on Wednesday, October 26.
128-8 (20 overs; H Tector 45, P Stirling 34; M Theekshana 2-19)
133-1 (15 overs; K Mendis 68*, C Asalanka 31*; G Delany 1-28)
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
