ICC World Cup 2023: Charged-up Netherlands decides to bat against struggling Sri Lanka

Netherlands captain Scott Edwards won the toss and elected to bat against last-place Sri Lanka at the Cricket World Cup at Lucknow, India on Saturday.

It was the first of two matches Saturday. Defending champion England played South Africa in a later game at Mumbai.

The Dutch have momentum on their side after they stunned high-flying South Afric a by 38 runs at Dharamsala for their first points in the tournament four days ago. The men in orange rode on a brilliant half century from Edwards to rack up 245-8 against the Proteas in a rain-curtailed game.

The Netherlands then bowled out South Africa for 207 to record one of the biggest upsets in the history of World Cup as the seamers and spinners were well supported by some brilliant fielding.

Edwards hoped his unchanged side from the last game will put up another challenging total and put pressure on Sri Lanka, which made two changes from its last game.

Allrounder Dushan Hemantha replaced young left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage while fast bowler Kasun Rajitha returned in place of Lahiru Kumara.

Sri Lanka lost captain Dasun Shanaka early in the tournament due to a thigh injury and is in last place after suffering three heavy losses against South Africa, Pakistan and Australia.

It is the first time since 1987 that Sri Lanka has lost its opening three games at the World Cup.

Without key legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga, a weakened Sri Lanka bowling was smacked for 428 by South Africa in the opening game. Pakistan chased down a World Cup-record of 345 to beat Sri Lanka at Hyderabad and then Australia romped to five-wicket win over with 88 balls to spare.

Sri Lanka has a 5-0 record against the Netherlands and most recently beat the Dutch twice in World Cup qualifying in July.

Lineups:

Netherlands: Vikramjit Singh, Max O‍‍`Dowd, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Teja Nidamanuru, Scott Edwards (captain), Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren.

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (captain), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushan Hemantha, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka