Electing to bowl first, the Lankans revelled on a sluggish track and steam-rolled through the Dutch batting line-up that stooped to 44 all out in 10 overs.
The Dasun Shanaka-led side then chased down the target in 7.1 overs to finish the qualifying stage of the marquee event with three wins from three games. Chasing 45 runs to victory, Sri Lanka didn’t get off to a good start as they lost opener Pathum Nissanka in the second over. Kusal Perera, however, took Sri Lanka over the finish line in the eighth over.
Sri Lanka also lost the wicket of Charith Asalanka in the sixth over but the team got home comfortably in the end.
Meanwhile, Netherlands now holds the dubious record of the two lowest scores in the T20 World Cup history – the previous one too came against Sri Lanka.
During their victorious run in the 2014 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, the Sri Lankan team led by Dinesh Chandimal bundled out Netherlands for just 39 runs in 10.3 overs at Chattogram in the Super 10 stage.
Lowest team totals in the T20 World Cups:
- 39 – Netherlands vs Sri Lanka, 2014
- 44* – Netherlands vs Sri Lanka, 2021
- 60 – New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, 2014
- 68 – Ireland vs West Indies, 2010
- 69 – Hong Kong vs Nepal, 2014
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