Ireland who won the toss chose to bat first. Andrew Balbirnie got out in the second over by playing an unorthodox scoop shot. Later Maheesh Theekshana’s brilliant bowling helped Sri Lanka to restrict the Ireland batters from playing big shots. Each bowler for Sri Lanka has got a wicket. Wanindu Hasaranga who has been the main wicket-taker was wicketless in the first 3 overs but he bounced back and picked 2 wickets in the last over of his spell. Sri Lanka restricted Ireland to 128/8 in 20 overs where 150 was seemingly possible at one time.
Sri Lanka while chasing played a good sensible game and ensured a 9-wicket win with 30 balls remaining. Kusal Mendis has hit his 10th T20I half-century today and guided his team to victory with ease. With injury concerns, Sri Lanka has forced itself to try a new combination of openings which worked well enough. Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis have shown brilliant batting performances putting on a partnership of 63 runs and Charith Asalanaka supported Kusal Mendis in the end very well to put on a partnership of 70 runs. After losing their 1st match in the qualifiers against Namibia it is a good comeback from Sri Lanka and now they are becoming serious contenders in the tournament.