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Sri Lanka survived a late surge by Ireland to register their second straight victory in the Super 8s and inch closer to book a semi-final berth. The Lankan bowlers tied down Ireland after Mahela Jayawardane scored a fighting knock to see them through.

Irish bowlers especially Boyd Rankin and Alex Cusack swung the ball to fox the Lankan batsman. The dangerous Tillakratne Dilshan and skipper Kumar Sangakkara perished early forcing Sanath Jayasuriya and Jayawardane to play carefully. Jayawardane scored a match saving knock of 78 off 60 balls to earn a Batting Momentum (BM) of 101, which guided the Lankan total to 144. He saved Lanka the blushes as only three batsmen reached the double figures bearing testimony to Ireland’s growing clout over bowling. Cusack was the pick of the lot, capturing 4 Lankan wickets for 18 runs to earn a Bowling Efficiency (BE) of 178.

Defending a paltry total, as the Sri Lankan bowling trio of Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis counted on experiences to capture 5 wickets between them for a mere 54 runs. Murali bowled with precision during the middle overs to pin the Irish batsmen back to their crease which proved crucial in the end. As the pressure grew, the Irish batsmen fell like nine pins in their bid to increase to run rate. Sensing an opportunity, Mendis and Malinga bowled closer to the stumps to pick crucial wickets and kept the Irish chase at bay. Scoring 60 runs in the first 10 overs, Ireland couldn’t keep wickets intact in the back 10 to finish off at 135. John Mooney gave a late scare to Lanka by hammering 18 runs off the penultimate over. But Malinga bowled his stinging yorkers in the last over to ward off the late challenge and taking Lanka closer to a semi-final spot.