Due to the brilliant batting of Pathum Nisanka (72), Sri Lanka set a target of 143 runs to South Africa in the ICC T20 World Cup match being played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium here. Electing to bat after losing the toss, Sri Lanka scored 142 runs in 20 overs for the loss of 10 wickets.
While bowling well, the South African bowlers did not allow the opposition team to progress to big scores. For South Africa, Tabrez Shamsi and Dwayne Pretorius took three wickets each. Enrique Nortje took two wickets for Sri Lanka.
Electing to bat after losing the toss, the Sri Lanka team made a tremendous start and scored 40 runs for the loss of one wicket in the power play. During this, Kusal Perera (7) was bowled by Nortje after scoring a run. After the power play, Pathum Nisanka and Charit Aslanka shared 41 runs in 30 balls. Meanwhile, Aslanka was dismissed for 21 off 14 balls with the help of two fours and a six.
Bhanuka Rajapakse (0), who came at number four, gave his wicket to Shamsi soon. After this Nisanka along with Avishka Fernando went ahead with the innings. Then Fernando (3) returned to the pavilion on Shamsi’s ball. After a while, Vanindu got out after making Hasranga (4). Taking the team forward, Nisanka got out after scoring 72 runs in 58 balls with the help of 6 fours and three sixes. Also, thanks to Dasun Shanaka (11), Chamika Karunaratne (5), Dushmantha Chamira (3) and Mahesh Teekshana (7) the team’s score could reach 142 runs.
