Sri Lanka won the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 warm-up match against Ireland on Thursday. Ireland had a good chance to qualify for the World Cup if they play well. However, the pacers from Sri Lanka were able to restrict Ireland to a modest total.
ICC T20 World Cup 2022 warm-up match between Sri Lanka and Ireland
In the second warm-up match for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, Sri Lanka will play Ireland. The match will be played at Junction Oval in Melbourne. It is scheduled to start at 09:30 IST. The match will not be telecast live, but fans can follow the action via team social media and the T20 World Cup official website.
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 is a highly anticipated cricket tournament. The first match will take place on October 23, when Sri Lanka will take on Namibia. It will be followed by the semifinals on November 9 and 10 at the Adelaide Oval and the final on November 13 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The first-round matches will also be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Junction Oval, which will be the home ground for the finals.
The ICC T20 World Cup 2022 will be held in Australia, in the months of October and November. The warm-up matches will be played in Melbourne and Brisbane. The First Round teams will play warm-up matches in Melbourne from October 10 to 13, while teams from the Super 12 will play matches on October 17 and 18. These games will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Junction Oval.
The final warm-up match between Ireland and Namibia was cancelled due to bad weather in Melbourne. In their only match, Ireland were defeated by Namibia by 11 runs. Ireland will open their group stage campaign against Zimbabwe in Hobart on Monday. The Irish have named fast bowler Graham Hume as the replacement for injured Craig Young, who returned to Australia after suffering a recurrence of a “chronic issue” in Sydney.
Sri Lanka were a hot favorite entering the match, having beaten Zimbabwe and Pakistan earlier this month. However, the team lost their openers – Pathum Nissanka made 41 off just two balls – and lost three wickets in the Powerplay. Ben Shikongo then produced a double-wicket maiden in his fourth over, removing both Nissanka and Gunathilaka off successive deliveries. From there, Sri Lanka batted poorly, and were eventually bowled out for 108 runs with six balls to spare.
Size comparison
Sri Lanka and Ireland are about the same size. Both countries are about 65,610 square kilometers (sixty-seven square miles). Both have about the same population, with about 22.9 million people. The following to-scale map compares the sizes of the two countries. It also provides information on their quality of life.
Fielding
Sri Lanka’s fielding in the first Test against Ireland was good but could have been much better. Though they did not make many clinical catches, they did well enough to make the game interesting. Their batting line-up is strong and they batted well too. Kusal Perera was a key part of their batting order and is a natural attacker. However, he was dismissed when he attempted a drive off Paul Stirling. Earlier in the series, he suffered from injury issues, but is now back in the team.
The third Test will feature the two most important games in the series. The top two sides from each group will qualify for the Super 12s, which will start on 22 October. The winner of Group A will play against the winner of Group B, while the runner-up will play England. Sri Lanka is coached by Chris Silverwood, the former head coach of England’s T20 team. They came into the tournament as outside bets for the title, but the conditions are much different in the UAE. Fortunately, they won the toss and started with the ball. This was a good start for them and they were able to make the scoreboard read a little bit more.
Once Ireland got the first wicket, Sri Lanka’s bowlers unleashed their spinners. They used a variety of spinners, but Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana proved to be the most potent. As a result, Ireland’s batters were left to try and survive the game. They were lucky to survive after Neil Rock and Stirling made their batting top order capitulate.
As the result of the match showed, Sri Lanka’s bowlers were brilliant. They dominated the middle overs and kept Ireland on the back foot. Hasaranga was the difference. The pacers were fantastic as well, pushing Ireland on the back foot and limiting the damage.
Namibia lost their openers inside the first three overs. Then Dushmantha Chameera got a wicket off Michael van Lingen on the third ball of the innings. Meanwhile, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton fell to an outstanding diving catch by Kusal Mendis. After that, the bowlers kept chipping away at the opponents’ score, while the openers were struggling to score.
Batting coach
The Sri Lankan cricket team is led by captain Dasun Shanaka. Other players in the team are Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya de Silva, Jeffrey Vandersay, Dilshan Madushanka and Nuwanidu Fernando. The team has a back-up plan, which includes Ashen Bandara and Dinesh Chandimal.
Against Ireland, the Lankan batting order capitulated early on and the hosts took advantage. However, the top order struggled against Namibia and were unable to defend their total. Stirling opened the innings and had Kusal Perera hole out to George Dockrell at cover point. The latter took a superb catch diving forward.
After a dismal Ashes series defeat last winter, Chris Silverwood was given another chance with Sri Lanka. Since then, Sri Lanka is unbeaten in both ODIs and Tests. Last month, they also won the T20 format Asia Cup, which included wins against India and Pakistan.
Ireland’s bowling attack will be boosted by the addition of Delany. He has been on a tear with the bat in recent months, scoring an unbeaten 88* (50) in a warm-up game against Bangladesh. He also scored 44 from 29 balls against the Netherlands. With that form, he should be a serious threat for the Lankan batting line up.
Ireland’s batting order will face a daunting task against the Sri Lankan bowling unit. Ireland have a history of winning international series, so it’s best not to alter it too drastically. Their batting line-up is solid and has experienced success at the highest level.
Ireland’s win over the Netherlands in the second warm-up game has given the tourists a good chance to qualify for the next round. If Ireland manages to win, it will put Sri Lanka’s chances to the next round in danger. With only one game remaining, both sides will need to win to stay in the tournament. If Ireland win, Sri Lanka will have to win the final match to avoid a mess on the net run rate.
Mahela Jayawardene, who was once a great batsman, has been appointed the new batting coach for the Sri Lankan team. The former captain of the Sri Lankan team has been tasked with bolstering the team’s T20 World Cup campaign. The team won the Asia Cup 2022 by defeating Pakistan by 23 runs in the final.