A strong bowling performance by the Netherlands had put Sri Lanka under pressure initially, but contributions from Angelo Mathews, Charith Asalanka, and Wanindu Hasaranga led it to an 83-run victory at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in Gros Islet, St Lucia. This win eliminated the Dutch from the T20 World Cup. However, the Netherlands’ exit was confirmed by another team even before its chase had reached the halfway mark.
Bangladesh faced Nepal in St. Vincent an hour earlier on Sunday night. The results of both games were crucial for deciding whether Bangladesh or the Netherlands would advance to the Super Eight. The Netherlands, primed to chase Sri Lanka’s 202, raced to 44 for no loss in four overs. Meanwhile, at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown, Nepal kept teasing the Dutch by slowly inching towards Bangladesh’s total while losing wickets regularly.
Just as Matheesha Pathirana had Sybrand Engelbrecht caught in the ninth over, Shakib Al Hasan trapped Abinash Bohara lbw in St. Vincent, ensuring Bangladesh’s qualification and knocking the Netherlands out despite more than 11 overs still left in the latter’s run chase. The Dutch innings unravelled quickly thereafter, with Nuwan Thushara ending with a three-wicket haul.
Earlier, after being inserted, the fluctuating fortunes of Sri Lanka in the PowerPlay highlighted the strategic acumen of Scott Edwards’ side. Pathum Nissanka was the first to fall, repeating his mistake from previous matches against South Africa and Bangladesh by driving a fuller delivery from Vivian Kingma that shaped away, leading to a remarkable diving catch by Engelbrecht at third man.
AS IT HAPPENED – Sri Lanka vs Netherlands
Shortly after, Paul van Meekeren used his height to extract extra bounce, dismissing Kamindu Mendis, who was caught at backward point.
Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva tried to fight back with a 45-run partnership for the third wicket. However, off-spinner Aryan Dutt, aware of the ground dynamics and the westerly breeze from Rodney Bay, exploited the longer boundary. Right-hander Mendis, hitting against the wind, fell into Dutt’s trap, pulling a short delivery and getting caught at deep midwicket for 46 off 29 balls.
With Sri Lanka at 90 for three and eight overs remaining, Dhananjaya de Silva took control during van Meekeren’s third over, hitting three consecutive boundaries with the wind, pushing Sri Lanka’s score beyond 100. After he was caught for 34 off left-arm spinner Tim Pringle while trying to accelerate, Asalanka and Mathews attacked Pringle in the 17th over, scoring 19 runs to boost momentum.
Asalanka fell in the next over to Logan van Beek, but Sri Lanka eventually racked up 77 runs in the final five overs, as Mathews and Hasaranga unleashed their power-hitting at the death to take the score past 200. In the end, it proved too tall a mountain to climb for the Dutch.
