Blazing fifties by Pavan Rathnayake and skipper Dasun Shanaka along with Kusal Mendis’ assured half-century helped Sri Lanka register a statement 105-run win over Oman in their T20 World Cup Group B clash, here on Thursday. Rathnayake (60 from 28 balls) and skipper Dasun Shanaka (50; 20b) returned to form, while Kusal (61; 45b) anchored the innings with successive World Cup half-century as Sri Lanka piled up 225/5 — their second highest in T20 World Cup and the highest score of this tournament so far — after Oman opted to bowl. Oman’s chase never quite recovered from early setbacks as they wilted under scoreboard pressure to be restricted to 120/9. Skipper Jatinder Singh was cleaned up by Dushmantha Chameera in the first over, and Aamir Kaleem and Hammad Mirza soon followed with single-digit scores as Oman slipped to 36/3 inside the power play. Chameera (2/19) struck twice with the new ball, while spinner Maheesh Theekshana was tidy and incisive, returning figures of 2/11 from his full quota of four overs.There was brief entertainment when Wasim Ali counter-attacked Dushan Hemantha, clubbing the leg-spinner for two sixes in a row — one over deep midwicket and another forward square leg — lifting Oman to 75/3 in 11 overs.But the recovery was short-lived as they crashed to 91/6, losing three wickets in six balls. Theekshana triggered the collapse by dismissing the fluent looking Wasim for 27 (20 balls; 3×6), caught by Kusal.A direct hit from Kamil Mishara at deep point ran out Vinayak Shukla the very next ball, and Jiten Ramanandi was brilliantly stumped by Kusal for a golden duck. Mohammad Nadeem, back after missing the opener, waged a lone battle with a valiant fifty, as the 43-year-old hit his third T20I fifty in 71 appearances. The 2014 champions now have two wins from as many matches, topping Group B, ahead of Australia and Zimbabwe, who have one win each.After a poor World Cup debut against Ireland where he fell for sloppy upper cut for 5, Rathnayake made amends in style smashing eight fours and one six en route to his maiden fifty that came off just 24 balls.In the process he overtook his previous best of 40 at this venue earlier this month.
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