Dushmantha Chameera and Wanindu Hasaranga picked three wickets each to help Sri Lanka defend its total of 152 runs.
Dushmantha Chameera led Sri Lanka’s fiery fast bowling display against the United Arab Emirates with three wickets in the T20 World Cup in Geelong on Tuesday as the former champion got its campaign back on track with a comprehensive 79-run win.
Opener Pathum Nissanka compiled a responsible 74 to help Sri Lanka post 152-8 after a hat-trick from spinner Karthik Meiyappan derailed the Asia Cup champion, which had suffered a 55-run thrashing by Namibia in their opening match.
The UAE got off to a disastrous start in its chase and was reduced to 21-4 inside the first six overs of powerplay with Chameera doing most of the damage for the 2014 champion by picking up three wickets in his first two overs.
UAE never recovered from the false start and was bundled out for 73 as Sri Lanka bounced back from the opening loss.
Sri Lanka will have its fingers crossed on the fitness of Chameera, however, who had missed the Asia Cup with a leg injury and hobbled off the field on Tuesday after pulling out of his run-up while delivering the final ball of his fourth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga also made a significant impact for Sri Lanka with his leg-spin, picking up three wickets for just eight runs.
Netherlands beats Namibia
Earlier, the Netherlands suffered a loss of Dutch courage on the way to a nerve-racking, five-wicket win over Namibia that moved them a step closer to qualifying for the Super 12 stage.
The Netherlands, which edged UAE in a tense opener on Sunday, will play Sri Lanka in their final Group A match on Thursday with the Emiratis taking on Namibia with two of the four teams going through to the next phase.
With more than six overs left, the Netherlands was 92-2 in pursuit of a modest total of 121-6 against Namibia but lost three wickets for 10 runs to turn the match into a nail-biter.
With six runs required in the final over, man-of-the-match Bas de Leede (30 not out) smashed fast-bowling all-rounder David Wiese over his head for four and struck another two down the ground to claim victory with three balls to spare.
It was a big let-down for Namibia, however, against the Dutch after its stunning demolition of Sri Lanka at the same venue on Sunday.
Namibia won the toss and chose to bat but was down to 3-32 before the end of the powerplay and never recovered despite 43 from all-rounder Jan Frylinck.
Scotland pulled off a huge upset win over two-time champion West Indies on Monday and tops the table in Group B. In the other result so far in the Group, Zimbabwe beat Ireland on Monday and sits second in the standings.
While Netherlands leads Group A, with two wins from two matches, Sri Lanka registered its first win on Tuesday after being stunned by Namibia on Sunday. In the other match on Tuesday, Namibia was defeated by Netherlands, which had beaten UAE on Sunday. Read More T20 World Cup News…
