T20 World Cup 2022: The Sri Lanka Cricket team on Thursday became the first team from the round 1 stage to qualify for the Super 12 stage as the Lankan lions overcame the Dutch challenge. Led by Kusal Mendis and Wanindu Hasaranga, Sri Lanka defeated the Netherlands in their final game by 16 runs. With this win, the Dasun Shanaka side is into the next stage as they have four points in three games and a better net run rate than the Netherlands.
Sri Lanka opted to bat first on the Simonds Stadium, Geelong. The openers negotiated the power-play but Pathum Nissanka soon departed in the seventh over. Dhananjaya de Silva departed on golden and UAE held things under control till the 10th over. However, Kusal Mendis played a brilliant knock of 79 off 44 balls to take Sri Lanka to 162 in 20 overs. In the final 10 overs, Sri Lanka amassed 102 runs, which set the tone high.
Coming into bowl, the Netherlands also started slowly as the surface didn't seem to be great for batting. They lost three wickets in 7 overs and their run rate did not favour them much. However, opener Max ODowd injected life into the chase and kept his team in the match. With some late power hitting, things spiced up but Sri Lanka held on to the Dutch challenge. The Lankan side won the contest by 16 runs and have become the first side from round 1 to progress into the Super 12 stage.
The journey to the Super 12 has not been very easy for the Asian champions. They were jolted by a defeat in the opening clash against Namibia and made a thumping comeback with a win over UAE in the second game. The second team of the Super 12 will be decided after the result of the match between Namibia and UAE.
