Published: May 06, 2014, 06:37 PM (IST)
Edited: May 06, 2014, 06:40 PM (IST)
May 6, 2014
Sri Lanka struggled in their first One-Day International (ODI) against Ireland at Dublin to post a good score on the board. Only Dinesh Chandimal played well for them by amassing 39 runs. Angelo Mathews and Upul Tharanga played handy knocks but that didn’t prove to be good enough for Sri Lanka in the end. For Ireland, Tim Murtagh bowled exceptionally well by taking two wickets for 21 runs. Other bowlers too bowled well for Ireland and it was a fine teamwork from Ireland that helped them to restrict Sri Lanka to 219 for the loss of eight wickets.
Earlier, Ireland won the toss and elected to field. They made a fine start to the match by taking early wickets. Both left-handed opening batsmen, Kusal Perera and Lahiru Thirimanne were dismissed early in the innings. It was the Middlesex medium pacer, Murtagh, known for his ability to bowl with good control who dismissed Perera. He was followed back to the pavilion by Thirimanne, who lost his wicket to the Australian born medium pacer, Alex Cusack. Murtagh bowled with an excellent economy rate for Ireland.
Sri Lankan batsmen certainly struggled to counter the tough conditions on view for batting that one can get to see in Ireland during May. Upul Tharnga was the one batsman who was able to play well, and to an extent counter the tough conditions on view. Dinesh Chandimal, known for playing shots curbed his natural instincts to play a fine knock as well.
Tharanga though, lost his wicket to Stuart Thompson and that was a huge blow to Sri Lanka’s chances of getting a good score on the board. The Ireland setup is captained by William Porterfield and Sri Lanka, by the ever present all-rounder, Angelo Mathews.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 219 for 8 in 50 overs (Upul Tharanga 24, Dinesh Chandimal 39, Ashan Priyanjan 32; Tim Murtagh 2 for 21) vs Ireland.
