After a disappointing defeat in their first warm-up match, Sri Lanka have bounced back strongly and defeated Ireland by 41 runs in their second practice match at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Lauderhill, Florida.
After being asked to bat first, Sri Lanka suffered a double whammy as they lost their wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis and Kamindu Mendis in the fourth over of the game.
Before the Lankan Lions could compose themselves, the Irish bowling attack made further inroads to reduce them to 97/6 in 13.1 overs.
However, Sri Lanka's lower middle order scripted a late resurgence as skipper Wanindu Hasaranga (26 off 21 balls), Angelo Mathews (32 off 30 balls) and Dasun Shanaka (23 off 15 balls) combined to take their team out of the hole and posted 163 on the board.
In reply, every single batter in the Irish top and middle order got starts but failed to convert them into big totals as Sri Lanka's disciplined bowling attack never allowed them to break the shackles.
Ireland eventually got bowled out for 122 in 18.2 overs. Shanaka was the pick of all the Sri Lankan bowlers as he bagged figures of 4/23 and was supported well by Hasaranga (2/40) and Maheesh Theekshana (2/14).
Afghanistan beat Scotland
Playing at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Afghanistan elected to bat first after winning the toss and posted 178 runs on the board for the loss of eight wickets against Scotland.
Former skipper Gulbadin Naib was the star with the willow in hand for the Afghans. He scored 69 off just 30 balls with the help of five fours and six sixes at a strike rate of 230.00 and launched an onslaught on the Scotland bowlers.
Emerging allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai played a good supporting act and scored 48 off 36 deliveries.
Barring Chris Sole, who bagged 3/35 in his four-over spell and Bradley Currie (2/26), none of the other Scottish bowlers made an impact.
In response, Scotland never got going in the chase and could only manage to score 123 in their 20 overs.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2/23) and Karim Janat (2/13) were the stand-out performers with the ball in hand for Afghanistan.
