Staff Reporter.
(Reuters) – Dushmantha Chameera led Sri Lanka’s fiery fast bowling display against the United Arab Emirates with three wickets in the T20 World Cup in Geelong on Tuesday as the former champions got their campaign back on track with a comprehensive 79-run win.
Opener Pathum Nissanka compiled a responsible 74 to help Sri Lanka post 152 for eight after a hat-trick from spinner Karthik Meiyappan derailed the Asia Cup champions, who had suffered a 55-run thrashing by Namibia in their opening match.
The UAE got off to a disastrous start in their chase and were reduced to 21 for four inside the first six overs of powerplay with Chameera doing most of the damage for the 2014 champions by picking up three wickets in his first two overs.
They never recovered from the false start and were bundled out for 73 as Sri Lanka bounced back from their opening loss.
Sri Lanka will have their fingers crossed on the fitness of Chameera, however, who had missed the Asia Cup with a leg injury and hobbled off the field on Tuesday after pulling out of his run-up while delivering the final ball of his fourth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga also made a significant impact for Sri Lanka with his leg-spin, picking up three wickets for just eight runs.
SRI LANKA: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (capt), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Pramod Madushan, Maheesh Theekshana
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Muhammad Waseem, Chundangapoyil Rizwan (capt), Aryan Lakra, Vriitya Aravind, Chiraq Suri, Basil Hameed, Kashif Daud, Aayan Afzal Khan, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Zahoor Khan.