Ireland now face Namibia, and the winner will progress to the next round of the World Cup

Sri Lanka 171 for 7 (Hasaranga 71, Nissanka 61, Little 4-23) beat Ireland 101 all out (Balbirnie 41, Theekshana 3-17) by 70 runs

Ireland began to bleed wickets right from the outset of the chase, and the big innings they required from someone like Paul Stirling never materialised. Stirling and Kevin O’Brien both fell cheaply, and any resistance of not came from a 53-run fourth wicket partnership between skipper Balbirnie and Curtis Campher. However, with the asking rate rising, all they managed to do was rebuild, and once the stand was broken, Sri Lanka zipped through the last seven wickets for 16 runs.

Ireland will need to shake off the disappointment from a day that began so brightly for them, and turn their attention towards their final game this round, a knockout against the Namibia, with the victor joining Sri Lanka in the Super 12.

Irish start
For all that happened after it, it’s easy to forget the perfect start Ireland enjoyed to this game. Sri Lanka’s top three struggled against Namibia, but what happened here against the Irish was a downright capitulation. Stirling opened the bowling, and right at the outset, had Kusal Perera hole out to George Dockrell at cover point, who took a splendid catch diving forward.

Hasaranga, Nissanka flay Ireland
Hasaranga tends not to bat as high as No. 5, but with Sri Lanka having lost wickets in a heap and needing to get a move on, they needed to take a punt. That’s what Hasaranga represented when he walked out to bat, a low-value, high-impact wicket.

He got Sri Lanka on their way with a classical back-foot drive through the offside, and all of a sudden, the momentum shifted. Nissanka and Hasaranga smacked Mark Adair for another three fours next over, before Hasaranga clobbered Simi Singh for four successive boundaries to round out the powerplay. They were all low-risk, high-class cricket shots, and got Sri Lanka back into a position of superiority.

With the powerplay over, the two transitioned masterfully into the next passage of play. There were regular ones and twos punctuated with the odd boundary, and whenever Ireland’s fielding let them down, the batters were there to make them pay. Ireland’s frustrations began to increase as last game’s hero Campher went for plenty in his spell, unaware to summon the magic of that four-wicket spell against the Netherlands. But then again, in Hasaranga and Nissanka, they were up against an opposition in a different league to anything Netherlands had thrown up against them.

By the time the partnership was broken, the duo had added 133 in 13.4 overs, the fourth wicket partnership accounting for nearly 80% of all runs scored.