Samarawickrama’s 91* helps Sri Lanka open account

Sri Lanka’s Sadeera Samarawickrama celebrates his half-century in Lucknow on Saturday. Pic/AFP

It was a great relief for Sri Lanka when they finally registered the first win in their fourth game, getting the better of the Netherlands by five wickets at the Ekana stadium on Saturday.

They were the only winless side going into the fourth round but despite opening their account in the points tally and finally moving to No. 8, ahead of England and Afghanistan, they have a lot to do to come anywhere near being in contention at this mega-event.

Also Read: ICC World Cup 2023 | ENG vs SA: The drama of the first inning

By no stretch of the imagination was it a comfortable victory as the Dutch fought hard till the end with their tight bowling and superb fielding, making the Lankan batsmen earn their runs.

A target of 263 was always going to be challenging and though Sri Lanka lost early wickets, the subsequent batters stuck out in the middle to guide the team home with just 10 balls to spare.

Opting to bat, there was a time when the Netherlands were in trouble when they slipped to 91 for six. But then came a 130-run partnership between Sybrand Engelbrecht and Logan van Beek. The former was playing only his third ODI, but batted like a veteran and collected 70 from 82 balls while van Beek made 59 from 75 deliveries. They posted a similar total to the one which proved adequate against South Africa in Dharamsala. Luckily for Sri Lanka, opener Pathum Nissanka (54 from 52) and Sadeera Samarawickrama, who remained unbeaten on 91, along with Charith Asalanka (44 from 66), played good hands to see off the threat. Samarawickrama was undoubtedly the star performer as he did not throw his hand away and stayed till the end.

Brief scores
The Netherlands 262 all out in 49.4 overs (S Engelbrecht 70, L Beek 59; D Madushanka 4-49, K Rajitha 4-50) lost to Sri Lanka 263-5 in 48.2 overs (S Samarawickrama 91', P Nissanka 54, C Asalanka 44, D Silva 30; A Dutt 3-44) by five wickets