Netherlands vs Sri Lanka Highlights, World Cup 2023: Samarawickrama stars with 91 as SL register 1st win of WC, beat NED by 5 wickets

van Beek continues and Samarawickrama defends. Takes 2 off the next ball as the umpire checks a run out. He's safe though. 4 more needed. No runs from the next 2 balls. 

Just 9 needed now and Samarawickrama with a 2 to start off Ackermann's over. And Dhananjaya is bowled!! Won't really matter. 

van Beek in to bowl the 46th over and starts with 2 dots. Dhananjaya breaks the shackles and pulls the next one for a six!! The fifth one is straight over the bowler's head for another 6!! Huge!! 

Ackermann in to bowl the next over and Samarawickrama takes 2 with a well placed shot. A single more as Samarawickrama goes into the late 80s. A misfield off the last ball which fetches 3. 

van Beek in the attack and Samarawickrama starts this one off with a single. The next 3 balls get 2 as well as the SL batters are content to just rotate strikes. 3 from this one. 

Ackermann continues and after a couple of quiet balls, Samarawickrama sweeps for four. A comedy of errors in the deep as the fielder gets to the ball but in trying to flick it to another fielder, misthrows it into the ropes.

van Beek in the attack and Samarawickrama with a single. The pace of the match is glacial now but SL won't care. Another quiet over with just 2 coming off it. 

Ackermann again and gives away a single off the first 2 balls. Good over thus far as Samarawickrama struggles to get away. Just 3 from this one as SL slowly and steadily march towards the target.

van der Merwe in to bowl the 40th over and starts with a dot ball. A wide the next ball undoes the dot. No runs from the next two deliveries as the bowler keeps it tight. A bit of a misfield and Samarawickrama gets 2. The bowler is not happy at all. 3 off this over.

Colin Ackermann is brought back into the attack. Samarawickrama takes a single to put Dhananjaya on strike, who takes a single of his own. Samarawickrama gets the 4th one away for a four!! Nicely placed. 7 from this one.

van der Merwe in the attack and starts this over off with 2 back to back dots. Make that 3 before Samarawickrama takes a single off the 4th. Nifty little over. Just 1 from this one.

van Meekeren in to bowl the next and a glorious drive by Samarawickrama but gets only 3 as a Dutch fielder cuts off the ball before it goes over the ropes. A wide next as the pressure mounts on the Dutch now. Samarawickrama gets a move on and pumps the next ball for a four!! 10 from this one 

van der Merwe continues and Samarawickrama as well as Dhananjaya take 2 from the first two deliveries. And that's 200 up for Sri Lanka. 5 singles from this over.

Paul van Meekeren back in the attack and Samarawickrama pushes the first delivery for a single.Dhananjaya with a single of his own next. A bouncer off the fifth and it's over the keeper for four byes. 

van der Merwe returns and Samarawickrama takes a single to start. Dhananjaya returns the favour with a single of his own. 2 from the next three deliveries and ends the over with another one. 5 from this one.

Aryan Dutt to bwol his last over and the batters will be looking to see him off and go after the other bowlers. And he has the breakthrough!! Asalanka tries for a slog sweep and he gets cleaned up. 

Bas de Leede in the attack and Samarawickrama with a single to bring up his 50 runs. Asalanka mines 2 each from the next 2 deliveries as SL are pretty comfortable in the chase now. A boundary saved by Dutt next at 3rd man but that too gets 2 runs. 8 from the over.

Aryan Dutt continues next and Asalanka starts with a single. Suddenly, the SL batters look keen for big shots. Samarawickrama with a single as well now. Tuen again and a swing and a miss by Asalanka. That was close, just missed the stumps by a whisker. 2 from the over.

van der Merwe in the attack and the first delivery bamboozles everyone and races behind the stumps for a four byes. Huge shout for a catch next but Samarawickrama's shot lands safely. 2 more added to the run chase. Two more from the next couple of balls as the runs keep coming. Over ends with a four to deep backward point. 13 from this over.

Aryan Dutt continues and Asalanka starts with a defence as NED are pretty desperate for a wicket here. Huge shout for an LBW again but the umpire stays firm. NED review. No bat involved and it's missing the wickets. Netherlands have lost all their reviews. Not good referrals at all. Asalanka rubs more salt into the Dutch wounds as he smashes a huge six in the very next ball. 

van der Merwe next and after a couple of dots, Asalanka takes a single to go off strike. Samarawickrama tries to snatch at the next ball but finds a fielder before takinga  single of his own. 150 up for SL. 3 off the over.

Aryan Dutt has beein introduced by Edwards now to try and break this stand. Good turn to start as it hits Asalanka on the pads. Looks to be missing the stumps but NED review. No bat involved shows UltraEdge. It's pitching outside leg stump and it's a review lost. The next has a huge turn but is called a wide. Beats the batter with the extra bounce and turn next. Beautiful ball. The last couple of balls yield 5 runs.

van der Merwe in the attack now and starts off with two dots. Takes a single off the next one and Samarawickrama is on strike. Nothing much to write home about from this over as SL are patiently trudging along. 

van Beek in to bowl the next over and Asalanka takes a single to start this one off. The second is way wide towards the legside and Samarawickrama flicks it to 3rd man for 2 runs. Four from the last three deliveries to end the over. 7 runs coming from it.

Ackermann again and Asalanka defends the first delivery. After a single next, Samarawickrama takes 2 from the third delivery. A quiet over so far as SL look in no hurry. 5 from it.

van Beek in the attack now and Asalanka plays and misses. A dot ball to start this one. Cracking shot next ball and it races to the boundary!! Round the wicket from van Beek and gets rewarded with 2 dots. 5 from this one.

Ackermann in to bowl the next and starts with 2 runs from the first two deliveries. Two from the next two deliveries as the batters keep chipping away at the target. 4 runs from this over. 

van Meekeren will continue and starts with a short ball. Samarawickrama swipes but it's in over his head. The batter pushes the second for a single to put Asalanka on strike. A slight delay in play as a ground staff is out to flatten a part of the pitch where the bowler lands his bowling action. Asalanka smashes the 5th for a well-placed boundary!! 5 from this over.

Ackermann comes into the attack and yields a single from the first 2 balls. The pressure continues as the last few deliveries get just 1 more. Tight little over from the bowler. 

van Meekeren continues and after a dot, the two batters rotate strikes off the next two balls. Just singles so far. Asalanka takes a risk, it's a bit high but just out of the reach of a fielder. 3 runs from this one.

Aryan Dutt back in the attack and a huge shout for LBW. Umpire Erasmas is uninterested, only using his hands to adjust his hat. Samarawickrama carves one off the 4th delivery but a huge save near the boundary by the fielder to keep it at 2. 4 from this over.

And just as we were talking about steadying the ship, Netherlands have struck via van Meekeren who sends Nissanka back. Edwards with the catch.

After losing two, Samarawickrama who scored a half centtury and Pathum Nissanka have managed to steady the Lankan ship. They cross 100 after a boundary off the last ball before drinks.

Aryan Dutt strikes again and skipper Kusal Mendis goes for the sweep but alas! he gets a top edge which is taken cleanly by the fielder at short fine leg. Mendia is gone for 11, and the Dutch are celebrating wildly.

Score after 9.2 overs,
SL 52-2

Once again a good over for Lanka with two fours in the over! Nissanka takes on Van Beek and gets the measure of him. First, a leg glance and then a drive past mid-off

Score after 8 overs
SL 47-1

Van Meekeren begins with a poor ball - a very short ball that gets over the head of everyone for five wides and then is smacked away by Nissanka with disdain on the fourth ball of the over. Nine off it.

Score after 7 overs,
SL 36-1

Kusal Perera is gone and thats the first wicket for Netherlands! After hitting a four off the previous ball, Perera attempted a cut shot off the shorter ball outside off that took a top edge and de Leede takes an easy catch. Poor batting by the opener there as he went for one shot too many and paid the price.

Score after 4.3 overs
SL 18-1

Nissanka on the charge but its a streaky one past third man. The very next ball is flicked off the legs and past the fine leg fielder for the second four in as many balls. After a relatively slow start, the Lankan openers are slowly getting into the groove.

Score after 3.4 overs
SL 14-0

Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera are at the crease and Nissanka is on strike. Aryan Dutt will open the attack. And just one from the first over!

Score after 1 over
SL 1-0

The Netherlands innings finishes with 262 on the board! But is it enough?  It required something special after they were 91/6 at one stage. What a recovery from a precarious position, and 261 is a good score. And gives them a chance at least. Logan Van Beek and Sybrand Engelbrecht were brilliant with the bat.

Madushanka snares Roelof van der Merwe, who is out for 7. A nice little comeback here at the death for Sri Lanka, but it is a bit late.

Score after 48 overs
NED 246-8

Van Beek gets his half-century for van Beek and after reaching the milestone he clobbers one away for a six. It was full and wide and it lofted down the ground and over long off for a clean six! What a hit. Another 30 runs is the absolute minimum from here. 

Score after 47 overs
NED 243-7

Dilshan Madushank comes back for his final spell and strikes again with the one that is full and on the middle! Sybrand Engelbrecht tries to play the ramp shot but misses, and this clatters into the stumps. Englebrecht goes for 70.

Score after 45.1 overs
NED 221-7

Karunaratner goes full and on off stump and Logan van Beek gets low and laps this one away over square leg with a slog sweep! A couple of bounces and into the rope. The Dutch are getting a move on

Score after 45 overs
NED 221-6

This is not going well for the Lankans. They have given away five penalty runs on back to back balls and then dropped a catch. 15 from the over and the 200 is up

Score after 43 overs
NED 204-6

The Netherlands team are well placed right now! Sri Lankan bowlers are giving away all the advantages they've created. They're currently 188/6 after 41 overs, with Log van Beek (34) and Sybrand Engelbrecht (60 leading the way. Can Sri Lanka come back from here?

From 91/6 to 161/6 - Sybrand Engelbrecht and Logan van Beek have slowly but steadily stabilised the Netherlands after a dramatic collapse in Lucknow.

Score after 37 overs
NED 161-6

Dushan Hemantha with a short one into the stumps and Englebrecht goes back and pulls hard through mid-wicket for four. The dutch need more of this. 150 comes up for them and the run-rate is still 4.31

Score after 35 overs
NED 151-6

Chamika Karunaratne, after his first spell of five overs, is back into the attack and he tries to ruffle up Sybrand Engelbrecht with a faster and shorter one which ends up as 5 wides! The Netherlands will like that. 11 from the over. 

Score after 34 overs
NED 145-6

The last boundary was after 21 overs and this shows how they are struggling to score freely. Sri Lanka, though, haven't been able to bowl them out and skipper Kusal Mendis has been trying to rotate his bowlers but hasn't been able to run through the tail

Score after 31 overs
NED 129-6

FOUR! A boundary for the Dutch after almost 20 overs. A good shot from Sybrand Engelbrecht. Dushan Hemantha errs in line and bowls down the leg side and Engelbrecht gets down on one knee and hits it past the fine-leg fence. The run rate is just above 4 RPO at the moment for the Dutch as a decent 4-run over

Score after 27 overs
NED 129-6

100 comes up for the Netherlands after 24 overs for the loss of 6 wickets! Meanwhile, Theekshana is bowling his fifth over and getting a lot of spin at the moment. 

Score after 24 overs
NED 100-6

Maheesh Theekshana cleans up skipper Scott Edwards for 16. Theeshanka breaks through the defence of Edwards and gets the big wicket with one that spins back in and beats his defense! The Dutch slip further.

Score after 23 overs
NED 95-6

Just when it seemed like Bas de Leede and Teja Nidamanuru would begin the recovery process both the batters have departed in quick time. Madushanka is the man who strikes on both occasions - After getting de Leede with a shorter one and Nidamanuru is out LBW! However, the umpire said no, but Madushanka convinced his captain to take a review again. Three red lights and it is goner !

Score after 19 overs
NED 73-5

Maheesh Theekshana, right-arm off break, comes into the attack. He gives away just four in his first over. Runs are coming slowly at the moment. The Netherlands have to score at a faster rate whilst not losing any more wickets to test the Sri Lankan batters.

Score after 16 overs
NED 64-3

Sri Lanka review! Kusal Mendis was reluctant but Chamika has forced him into taking the review. Chamika did a celebrappeal. But umpire Marais Erasmus was not convinced. They appeal for LBW first and then for a bat-pad catch. Umpire's call on the wickets so no wicket but the review is kept.

Score after 13 overs
NED 54-3

Ackerman attempts to cut a length ball into the offside, he gets a little edge on the ball, and the keeper collects it gleefully. Rajitha picks up the wicket. 

Score after 12 overs
NED 54-3

Rajitha redeems himself after bowling a wide by bowling O'Dowd with the extra delivery. It was full and swinging away outside off and O'Dowd looks to drive but gets a thick edge that goes back into the stumps. The Netherlands lose two in the powerplay! 

Score after 10 overs
NED 48-2

Ackerman drives it towards the cover, where Chamika gets across and dives and he does make the stop. But as he tumbles over the ball slips out of his grasp and races to the fence. Lankan head coach Chris Silverwood cannot believe it.

Score after 9.1 overs
NED 42-1