Mendis bowls Lanka to emphatic win
Chris Dhambarage from Pakistan
Wrist spinner Ajantha Mendis picked up his maiden five wicket haul to
hand Sri Lanka an emphatic 142 run victory over the United Arab Emirates
team in their six nation Asia Cup limited overs tournament group A
second match played under lights at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on
Thursday.
Mendis lived upto expectations as a mystery spinner as he ripped
through the opposition batting during a tantalizing spell of bowling to
return career best figures of five wickets for 22 runs. As a result the
United Arab Emirates team were bowled for 148 runs after Sri Lanka had
earlier posted a challenging 290 for 9 from their 50 overs.
Mendis who also took the man of the match award used the old ball
cleverly and caused most of the damage while sending down just 6.3 overs
as the United Arab Emirates team lost their last six wickets for the
addition of just 15 runs.
They were at one stage well placed to make a match of it after
dashing opener Amjad Ali had scored a scintillating 77 from 79 balls
inclusive of 12 boundaries. Mendis of course did not have success in his
opening spell but came back strongly during the latter stages to make a
huge impact while representing the country in his sixth one day
international.
Earlier Sri Lanka recovered well from a middle order collapse to make
a competitive score of 290 for 9 after skipper Mahela Jayawardena had
won the toss and chose to bat first. However the defending champions
were in real trouble at one stage when they slumped to 189 for 6 by the
30th over.
There were some superb rearguard action from their tailenders
thereafter as the two all rounders Kaushalya Weeraratne and Nuwan
Kulasekera put their heads down and batted according to the situation to
rescue the side while adding a useful 50 runs for the eighth wicket from
63 deliveries.
The pair settled down well and were quite satisfied to rotate the
strike mainly through singles and the two’s that put some pressure on
the fielding side. Left hander Weeraratne was caught on the deep when he
was well set to complete a half century and Kulasekera played an equally
good innings before throwing his wicket away in the last over of the
innings.
Sri Lanka were well on course to cross the 350 run mark once again
when skipper Mahela Jayawardena and opener Mahela Udawatte put on 114
runs for the second wicket after Kumar Sangakkara had departed in the
very first over of the innings.
Jayawardena and Udawatte steadied the innings and then took full
control of the situation with a series of boundaries. The Sri Lankan
captain certainly made amends for his failure in the first outing by
completing his 45th one day international half century from 39
deliveries inclusive of seven boundaries.
Udawatte who replaced Sanath Jayasuriya went on to score his second
one day international fifty from 48 deliveries and with the help of five
boundaries. But thereafter Sri Lanka completely lost their way with
wickets falling at regular intervals.
Sri Lanka also rested off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and fast
bowler Chaminda Vaas while bringing in Thilina Thushara and Kaushalya
Weeraratne.
Lahore, Thursday.
SRI LANKA:
290 for 9 in 50 overs
UAE:
Amjad Ali c Weeraratne b Dilshan 77
Arshad Ali run out 6
I. Batuwitarachchi c Sangakkara b Thushara 14
Saqib Ali lbw b Mendis 19
Khurrum Khan c Sangakkara b Thushara 2
Mohammad Tauqir lbw b Fernando 9
N. Fernandes st Sangakkara b Mendis 5
Alavi Shukri c Jayawardene b Mendis 1
Zahid Shah not out 6
Fahad Alhashmi lbw b Mendis 0
Aman Ali lbw b Mendis 0
EXTRAS: (b1, lb1, nb2, w5) 9
TOTAL: 148
Fall of wickets: 1-25 (Arshad), 2-95 (Batuwitarachchi), 3-107 (Amjad),
4-114 (Khurrum), 5-133 (Tauqir), 6-139 (Saqib), 7-141 (Shukri),
8-142 (Fernandes), 9-148 (Alhashmi)
Bowling: Kulasekera 5-2-25-0 (2w), Weeraratne 4-1-23-0,
Fernando 7-0-40-1 (2nb), Mendis 6.3-1-22-5 (1w),
Dilshan 7-2-14-1 (1w), Thushara 7-0-22-2 (1w) |
