“Out of the universe”- Twitterati all praise for Kusal Mendis’ quick-fire knock against the Netherlands
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Kusal Mendis
In a must-win game, Kusal Mendis‘ quickfire guided Sri Lanka to a decent 162/6 against the Netherlands in the ninth Group match on Thursday [October 20] at the GMHBA in Geelong.
Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and decided to bat first. “We will bat first. It is a used wicket. The batters are in good form. We have got two changes. It happens in cricket. We knew that our team is a better team than what we showed in the first game. And we did bounce back,” Shanaka explained why he chose to bat first.
Lankans openers Pathum Nissanka and Mendis walked out to start the innings, but soon the former gave away his wicket to a yorker by Paul van Meekeren after scoring 14 runs off 21 balls. Van Meekeren then trapped Dhananjaya de Silva on a golden duck, and the Lankans lost two quick wickets.
Charith Asalanka played a slow knock of 31 runs off 30 balls before Bas de Leede dismissed him with a fuller delivery. Asalanka didn’t time his shot well and edged it to the wicketkeeper.
De Leede bowled a full toss to Bhanuka Rajapaksa, and the latter chipped it in the air and fell onto the hands of Tim Pringle. Rajapaksa added just 19 runs off 13 balls.
The Dutch then grabbed the important wicket of Mendis, but the latter had already done the damage. He departed after scoring a quick 79 runs off 44. This happened in the final over when Timm van der Gugten’s full toss made Mendis go for a slog sweep but mistimed his shot, and Logan van Beek from the square leg grabbed an easy catch.
Mendis’ brilliant knock took his team to a respectable 162/6 in their 20 overs. Among the Dutch bowlers, Fred Klaassen and van der Gugten picked up one wicket, while de Leede scalped and van Meekeren scalped two wickets.
The Lankan Lions will have to win this match to stay in the tournament. The Dutch, meanwhile, have defeated UAE and Namibia and will be eyeing to confirm their place in the Super 12 stage.
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Check how Twitter reacted to Kusal Mendis’ half-century knock
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Gouri Das
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