A fiery start by the two Sri Lankan openers promised a big score for the holders when they were sent in to bat first by the United Arab Emirates in the second game of the Asia Cup Twenty20 at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.
But a late comeback into the innings, led by the UAE pacers, saw the Lankans held back to a modest total of 129/8 in 20 overs.
The Sri Lanka think tank made the gamble of sending in Dinesh Chandimal to open the innings for the first in a Twenty20 international and it worked wonders as the right-handed batsman, along with Tillakaratne Dilshan, posted 68 runs in 9.1 overs. Medium-pacer Amjad Javed removed Dilshan for 27 to break the pair and halt the Lankans’ charge.
Following the addition of another 11 runs to the board, Sri Lanka lost their second wicket, that of Milinda Siriwardana, who added just six runs to the tally. Javed had struck this time too.
Javed went on to dismiss opener Chandimal for 50 as Sri Lanka were reeling on 89 for three in 13.2 overs. Chandimal looked in good touch, hammering seven boundaries and a six, but Javed shined better for his team, removing the batsman before any more damage was caused.
From there, the Lankan lower-order failed disastrously as they could add only 40 runs to the total. UAE pacer Mohammad Naveed and all-rounder Mohammad Shahzad bagged two scalps each to complement Javed (3/25) perfectly.