Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana shared five wickets, as Netherlands folded for the second-lowest total in T20 World Cups

This was the first dead rubber of the World Cup, and aptly enough, Sri Lanka were ruthless with their execution. Seven years after they had skittled Netherlands out for 39, the lowest T20 World Cup total, Sri Lanka condemned the same opposition to the second-lowest total too, running through them for 44 in ten overs.

The chase was more batting practice than anything else, and the top order, which had misfired until now in the tournament, for the first time faced no pressure whatsoever. Even so, Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka fell cheaply, as Sri Lanka still finished the game off in just over seven overs, giving their own confidence a nice fillip ahead of the Super 12s round, they could barely have wished for a smoother evening’s work.

Theekshana sent Ben Cooper and Stephan Myburgh back to the pavilion after rattling their middle stumps with carrom balls neither could read, while Hasaranga honed in on the pads with wrong’uns that appeared impossible for the opposition to pick. Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede and Pieter Seelaar all failed to get their pads out of the way of the googly, and by the time a remarkable powerplay concluded, Netherlands were reduced to 37 for 6.

Sri Lanka stroll
Ideally, Sri Lanka would have wished to see the top order run this down without the loss of a wicket to assuage concerns about an underperforming top order. However, Nissanka holed out at mid-off for a duck, while Asalanka couldn’t take advantage of his opportunity at No. 3. But Sri Lanka were in little hurry to force the issue, running the target down at a canter.