{"id":19287,"date":"2025-09-16T09:04:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T09:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=19287"},"modified":"2025-09-16T09:04:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T09:04:17","slug":"sri-lanka-survive-hong-kong-scare-for-four-wicket-asia-cup-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=19287","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka survive Hong Kong scare for four wicket Asia Cup win"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Sri Lanka were made to sweat before edging Hong Kong by four wickets in the Asia Cup \u00a0on Monday, as Wanindu Hasaranga&#8217;s late cameo spared the former champions an embarrassing stumble.<\/p>\n<p>Chasing 150 on a sluggish surface, Sri Lanka looked comfortable at 119 for two with 31 needed off 30 deliveries, but a flurry of wickets, four for eight runs, set nerves jangling.<\/p>\n<p>Hasaranga steadied the innings with an unbeaten 20 off nine balls, striking two fours and a six to seal victory with seven balls left.<\/p>\n<p>Pathum Nissanka was again the batting linchpin, cracking 68 off 44 balls with six fours and two sixes. The opener, ranked seventh in the ICC T20 batting standings, posted back-to-back half-centuries to become the tournament&#8217;s leading scorer with 118 runs. Fortune favoured him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He was reprieved on 22, 58 and 59, before being run out going for a risky second.<\/p>\n<p>Hong Kong&#8217;s spirited effort was undermined by sloppy fielding as they grassed five catches that might have turned the contest on its head.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was a very good performance but we&#8217;re disappointed we dropped so many catches,&#8221; said skipper Yasim Murtaza.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, after being sent in, Hong Kong charged to 31 for no loss in the first three overs. A 61-run stand from Anshuman Rath (48) and Nizakat Khan (52) anchored their innings, the latter posting his 12th half-century.<\/p>\n<p>Dushmantha Chameera&#8217;s pace proved too hot to handle, finishing with two wickets.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Very pleased with my form, but we have a long way to go,&#8221; said Nissanka, who continues to flourish at the top of the order.<\/p>\n<p>The win puts Sri Lanka top of Group B, all but ensuring a place in the second round with one match in hand.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sri Lanka were made to sweat before edging Hong Kong by four wickets in the Asia Cup \u00a0on Monday, as Wanindu Hasaranga&#8217;s late cameo spared the former champions an embarrassing stumble. Chasing 150 on a sluggish surface, Sri Lanka looked comfortable at 119 for two with 31 needed off 30 deliveries, but a flurry of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}