Dhanushka Gunatillake scored a brilliant century as Sri Lanka outplayed Nepal by 76 runs on the opening day of the SAARC Twenty20 Cup in Maldives.
With man of the match Gunatillake’s 105, Sri Lanka raced to 240 for 4 in 20 overs. Nepal only managed 164 for 9 in 20 overs.
Sri Lankan opener Danishka Mestiyage led the batting with a brilliant 105 off just 51 balls with 8 sixes before while Bhanku Rajapakse (58 off 38 balls), Angelo Perera (36 not out) and Udara Madurawalage (32) launched the batting attack that saw captain Paras Khadka going for 37 runs in the last over. In the over that included a no-ball and a wicket, Paras was hit for six sixes in a ground that just have 57-yard boundary.
Paras, who grabbed three wickets, otherwise had a good spell going for 20 runs in his 3 overs. Amrit Bhattarai was the only other bowler to claim wicket. Nepal also gave away 36 extras in 20 overs.
Nepal’s reply started badly with a run-out of Gyanendra Malla (2) while attempting a second run. Mahesh Chhetri (13) and Sharad Vesawkar then added 40-run partnership but the pressure of chasing a big total kept Nepali batsmen going for big shots and losing wickets to some brilliant bowling performance.
Sharad scored 26 while Paras went out early at 10. Pradeep Airee (35 not out), Prithu Baskota (32) and Binod Bhandari (25) hit shots here and there to ensure that Nepal did not lose by a big margin.
Ramith and Banku each grabbed three wickets for Sri Lanka.
“I am happy with the way the boys batted today,” Nepal’s Sri Lankan coach Pubudu Dassanayake commented after the match. “It was the ground that made much difference.”
The coach, who began his stint from the tournament, was however unsatisfied with bowling. “Bowling was not up to the mark. Spinners could not handle it and some overs went really bad,” he said.
“The wicket was much better than I had thought and the ball was coming on the bat and we conceded around 75 runs because of the size of the ground,” he said.
Captain Paras lauded Sri Lankan batting. “We had set a target for ourselves from this match and I think we succeeded in achieving that,” said Paras.
“The boys showed that they can face the stronger sides and score runs. If we are to forget the end result, the match was a good experience for the team,” added Paras.
In other match, hosts Maldives beat Bhutan by 6 wickets.