SL vs IRE

For the 6th time in 6 matches in this comp, experience prevailed over inexperience and each time the more pedigreed and fancied teams have got the points on the board, we still await the first upset of the tournament despite being so close to so many already. We will have another three matches tomorrow with WC debutants Italy kicking things off for us against Scotland at the Eden Gardens. Make sure you join in, for now this is Sourabh Agrawal signing off on behalf of Datrim Ray and the entire team. Cheers!

Sunny: "What a world cup! A hat-trick and a 5-fer from Shepherd, intense finish from Ashraf, Clutch from Suryakumar and Spirit from an injured Hasaranga. And still more to come, we have seen such a lot in first 2 days😱"
Sunny pretty much summing it up, well done!

Paul Stirling (Ireland captain): At the halfway stage we thought they got 15-20 too many, I think at the start of the day we would have been happy chasing 160 which is what the notes said on the wicket. We were not clinical when the match was on the line. Little bit sloppy on the field, plenty of areas, need to come back in a couple of days against Australia. Experience told today, Sri Lankan team at the end in both innings was the difference, those 20 runs. They defended well, we had plenty of wickets at the backend, they really upped the ante and put the squeeze on. (What was the difference? Dropped catches or the 19th over in the first innings?) Bit of everything, can sit back and reflect but at the end of the day they were 20 runs better than us. (Is spin a challenge for them?) Spin is going to be a challenge throughout the tournament. Wasn't coming on to the bat as much as we thought. 

10:49 PM local time and IST: MATCH SUMMARY

Sri Lanka (163/6 in 20 overs) beat Ireland (143 all-out in 19.5 overs) by 20 runs

Kusal Mendis 56*(43) | Maheesh Theekshana 3/23(4)
Harry Tector 40(34) | George Dockrell 2/17(4)

Fist pump from Pathirana, fist pump from Sanath Jayasuriya in the dugout and ecstasy in the stands as Sri Lanka get a comfortable and convincing win in the end to kick off their campaign and get the all-importnt two points against their name. The hosts were tested, both with the bat and the ball and hence this win will mean a lot more than just the two points

On the other hand, a young Irish fan is not pleased and he has his thumbs down which is a true reflection of this Irish performance with the bat who have fallen like a pack of cards from 105/2 to 143 all-out

Once Sri Lanka got over 160, it was always going to be a stern test for the Ireland batters. First things first though, how did Sri Lanka get to 160? Largely due to a plethora of dropped catches from Ireland who let this match slip out of their hands quite literally dropping 4 catches inside 2 overs which allowed the two Mendis(s) to flip the momentum and get a grandstand finish to their innings after it looked for a majority of the part in the first half that Sri Lanka would struggle to get to even 140

Sri Lanka too tried to return the favor by dropping a couple of catches themselves but Ireland fluffed it with the bat too after getting into a quite a good position needing under 60 runs in 36 balls with two set batters, Tector and Tucker, at the crease.

Massive effort from Hasaranga who limped his way through his spell after injuring his left hamstring in his very first over but still managed to end with 3 cruicial wickets. A 3-fer for Theekshana as well who was at his best tonight and the spinners from Sri Lanka were too good for Ireland

The slow and low nature of the pitch meant that it was never going to be easy for the new batters which is why the back-to-back wickets of Tucker and Tector proved to be the decisive spell of play in the chase around the 15-over mark

19.5 Matheesha Pathirana to Matthew Humphreys, BOWLED HIM! TIMBER! ALL OVER! Pathirana seals the deal for Sri Lanka as they crush Ireland by 20 runs! Pathirana goes full and straight at the stumps. Humphreys plays across the line and misses out completely as the ball goes on to crash into the off-stump. 

19.3 Matheesha Pathirana to George Dockrell, Pathirana joins the party now! SL are all over Ireland now! Back of a length ball outside off. Dockrell backs away and tries to slice it uppishly through the off-side. But he fails to get the distance, and Kamindu pouches it safe as a house. 

19.2 Matheesha Pathirana to George Dockrell, FOUR! Length ball outside off. Dockrell plays it with a straight bat and thumps it back past the bowler for a boundary. Not that it matters now!

19.1 Matheesha Pathirana to George Dockrell, fires a yorker and follows Dockrell on that occasion. Squeezed away to deep midwicket for a couple.

18.6 Dushmantha Chameera to Mark Adair, IN THE AIR AND GONE! Chameera goes pace-off and bowls it way outside off. Adair tries to reach out but does not get it out of the middle. Shanaka gets around it and safely punches it near long off.