Ireland suffered a thumping nine-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in their opening game of the T20 World Cup Super 12s as Kusal Mendis starred once again in Hobart.
After Sri Lanka’s bowling attack restricted Ireland to 128-8, opener Mendis (68no off 43) crunched his second successive fifty, sharing half-century stands with Dhananjaya de Silva (31) and Charith Asalanka (31) as his side coasted home in 15 overs, Mendis with the match-winning six off Simi Singh.
Sri Lanka’s quick-fire chase was a tremendous boost for their net run-rate, while Ireland – who trounced West Indies on Friday to reach this stage – must now regroup ahead of their meeting with England at the MCG on Wednesday (5am UK time).
Sri Lanka’s next match is against hosts Australia in Perth on Tuesday (12pm UK time) and they will take confidence from Mendis’ form – he also hit 79 against Netherlands – and the fact their opponents were demolished by New Zealand in their first match on Saturday,
Only Harry Tector (45) and Paul Stirling (34) passed 14 for Ireland as Sri Lanka’s bowlers, including Maheesh Theekshana (2-19) and Wanindu Hasaranga (2-25), excelled at Bellerive Oval.
Tuesday 25th October 11:30am
Ireland were then only able to pick up one wicket, that of Dhananjaya, who was caught behind trying to cut away leg-spinner Gareth Delany.
When Mendis boomed Singh over the leg-side to wrap up victory for Sri Lanka with 30 balls to spare, his team and head coach Chris Silverwood could toast an eighth win in their last nine T20 internationals, with the only loss in that time coming to Namibia in the opening game of this tournament.
The win over Ireland gave Silverwood positive memories of Hobart, as this was the venue where he presided over a crushing defeat to Australia in January, which sealed a 4-0 Ashes victory for the home side and ultimately proved his final match in charge.
Silverwood was subsequently handed a return to international cricket with Sri Lanka, coaching his team to Asia Cup success in September and now into the Super 12s of this tournament.
Sri Lanka sit second in Group 1 after the opening round of fixtures, sandwiched between fellow winners New Zealand and England by virtue of net run-rate,
What’s next?
Sri Lanka take on Australia at Optus Stadium in Perth on Tuesday (12pm UK time) with Ireland’s fixture against England taking place on Wednesday at the MCG (5am UK time).
