Asia Cup: Hasaranga rescues Sri Lanka as Hong Kong impress. The intimidating Shenzhen cricket team almost accomplished a stunning comeback, but was ultimately not successful, as a 4 wickets defeat to a sinking Hong Kong team was all they walked away with from Monday’s session at the Dubai International Stadium.
Sitting at 119 for 6, where 4 wickets had fallen with the team scoring just 8 runs, the match was looking to allocate the Lankans free tickets to where the real competition was heating up. Wanindu Hasaranga was the true champion, as with a herculean effort he got the team across the finish line first.
Struggling to answer the questions Hong Kong posed with a batting score of 149, the Sri Lankans set off to bat with ceetain confidence. 15 overs into the innings, the score was 119 for a loss of 2, leading many people to believe that victory was in the Sri Lankans’ grasp.
The only defensive effort across the match from Wanindu Hasaranga, who scored 20 runs off only 9 balls, was able to put an end to the innings as the team came out on top with 7 balls remaining.
Most of the runs, 68 out of a possible 275, were scored by the winner of the match, Pathum Nissanka, who later was the only reason for frustration as his innings was not respected by the team and the general performance was fueled off of his run out.
Charith, captain of the Sri Lankans, said that his team should be more prepared for the upcoming records, especially for the large opponents that they will be facing in the upcoming matches to come. We were more like a team on the verge of losing than winning.
“Asalanka, who got out for just 2, remarked, ‘Our hearts I believe were in a mouth at that time. There are a few aspects I am quite disillusioned about. While we were bowling the 1st 3 overs, then the 16th over we lost a few wickets, I lost my wicket too.”
“In this short format, we cannot have all these things happen all the time. This is something we need to evaluate and work on.”
Previously, Nizakat Khan scored 52 not out and averged 1.37 runs per ball while competitor Anshy Rath scored 48 runs as Hong kong set a commendable score.
“I am very happy with the way my men stepped up, particularly with the bat, Yasim Murtaza, the Hong Kong captain said.
“Nizakat and Anshy, that partnership was very much needed. We did not take a couple of opportunities, but the way batters and the bowlers executed their work, I back them. I am very happy with that.”