A low-scoring thriller followed by a one-sided encounter in Geelong today. UAE are all but out of the race for the Super 12s. The top two teams qualify for the next stage and NRR is highly likely to decide the positions in this group. Currently, Sri Lanka (+0.600) have a better NRR than Netherlands (+0.149) and a win should be enough for the Asian champions to progress.
Sri Lanka who had a wonderful start from their openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis added a 42 runs partnership. The pair of Pathum Nissanka and Dananjaya de Silva added a 50 runs partnership. When things were going in favour of Sri Lanka, Karthik Meiyappan a leggie went on to take a hat-trick. Once Sri Lanka was expected to score 170-180 was reduced to 152/8 by the brilliant effort of UAE.
In reply, they restricted UAE to 73/10 and won by a huge margin of 79 runs which earned them a high NRR, which may help Sri Lanka seal the spot in super 12. Pathum Nissanka was awarded Player of the match award for his brilliant knock of 74(60) and also took the catch of Junaid Siddique.
UAE may lost the game but they have some memorable moments today.
Hat-trick by Karthik Meiyappan, 109 meters six from Junaid Siddique.