Samarawickrama’s 93 helps Sri Lanka to competitive total

A crucial contribution from Sadeera Samarawickrama helped Sri Lanka finish with 257/9 in the Super Fours game against Bangladesh in Colombo on Saturday (September 9). Sri Lanka had slipped to 164/5 at one stage but Samarawickrama’s 72-ball 93 helped them post in excess of 250, which appears a competitive total on a pitch that hasn’t been easy to bat on.

Sri Lanka got off to a steady start after being asked to bat, with both Dimuth Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka playing their drives confidently for regular boundaries. But their partnership ended on 34 as Hasan Mahmud, having been driven a couple of times by Karunaratne, pulled back the length a bit and had the batter nicking to the ‘keeper. Kusal Mendis and Nissanka continued in a positive manner, taking on the pacers, which forced Shakib Al Hasan to bring himself on and fellow left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed early in the innings. They kept things tight, minimising the boundaries, although the second wicket pair did score a couple of fours off Shakib.

Nissanka, who had a leg-before decision reversed in the opening over of the game, had a lucky break in the 19th when Rahim put down a catch off Mahmud’s bowling. The half-century stand was raised a short while later but Bangladesh did apply the brakes on the scoring, conceding only two boundaries from overs 11-20. Their catching, however, was a let-down as Towhid Hridoy misjudged the ball at backward square leg after Mendis pulled a Shoriful delivery, with the ball going through the fielder’s hands across the boundary.