The match was supposed to be simple cakewalk for Sri Lanka, who are the reigning world champions in the T20 format. On a green Dhaka wicket, Sri Lanka were batting first, they started well, however the UAE bowlers bowled well and the fielders backed up their bowlers well by taking all the catches and stopping the runs.
Sri Lanka huffed and puffed to get a paltry total of 129 runs in the allotted 20 overs. All Sri Lankan batsmen struggled against a bunch of amateur UAE players. However when Sri Lankans came to bowl, the story did turn around. Lasith Malinga, who is one of the best bowlers in the world and a completely unorthodox bowler, whom the UAE batsmen faced for the first time, left them shocked.
In the very first ball of the second innings, Malinga took a wicket by bowling a fast yorker. In the last ball of the over, he bowled another yorker that dipped as it reached the batsman. The batsman missed the ball and it hit the wicket giving him the second wicket in the match.
However UAE did not surrender meekly, their batsmen fought on, however they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They kept falling behind the required rate every over. In the end, they ended up scoring 115/9, 14 runs short of Sri Lanka's score.
If the UAE batsmen were more experienced in terms of playing international cricket and had they played the like of Lasith Malinga earlier, they surely would have batted better and might have comfortably won the match.
Anyway the performance of UAE was quite commendable, considering a fact that all its players are amateurs, which means that they have a day job and only practice in the evening. Compare that to SL players, who are professional full time cricketers, who are way more experienced as compared to the guys from Emirates.
Today Emirates are to face Bangladesh in another T20 encounter in Mirpur. One hopes that the experience of facing the Lankans and the confidence of their good performance against them reflects in this match and they are able to give Bangladesh a run for their money.
Sri Lanka huffed and puffed to get a paltry total of 129 runs in the allotted 20 overs. All Sri Lankan batsmen struggled against a bunch of amateur UAE players. However when Sri Lankans came to bowl, the story did turn around. Lasith Malinga, who is one of the best bowlers in the world and a completely unorthodox bowler, whom the UAE batsmen faced for the first time, left them shocked.
In the very first ball of the second innings, Malinga took a wicket by bowling a fast yorker. In the last ball of the over, he bowled another yorker that dipped as it reached the batsman. The batsman missed the ball and it hit the wicket giving him the second wicket in the match.
However UAE did not surrender meekly, their batsmen fought on, however they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They kept falling behind the required rate every over. In the end, they ended up scoring 115/9, 14 runs short of Sri Lanka's score.
If the UAE batsmen were more experienced in terms of playing international cricket and had they played the like of Lasith Malinga earlier, they surely would have batted better and might have comfortably won the match.
Anyway the performance of UAE was quite commendable, considering a fact that all its players are amateurs, which means that they have a day job and only practice in the evening. Compare that to SL players, who are professional full time cricketers, who are way more experienced as compared to the guys from Emirates.
Today Emirates are to face Bangladesh in another T20 encounter in Mirpur. One hopes that the experience of facing the Lankans and the confidence of their good performance against them reflects in this match and they are able to give Bangladesh a run for their money.
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