Wanindu Hasaranga starred with both bat and ball to drive Sri Lanka to a massive 70-run victory over Ireland. A double blow from Josh Little in the second over reduced them to 8/3 before Hasaranga and Pathum Nissanka led the recovery with a 123 run-stand for the fourth wicket.
Maheesh Theekshana continued with his impressive form, picking three wickets, while Lahiru Kumara and Chamika Karunaratne claimed two wickets each. Chasing 172, Ireland were bowled out for 101.
Sri Lanka's top order continues to remain a concern. For the second successive time the top-order failure pushed them on the backfoot early in the game. Paul Stirling struck with the second ball of the match, getting Kusal Perera caught by Gareth Delany for a golden duck.
Little then struck twice to remove both Dinesh Chandimal (6) and Avishka Fernando (0). Nissanka, who came on the back off a string of low scores, offered much-needed resistance as Wanindu Hasaranga played his shots to keep the run rate ticking.
Hasaranga struck three fours in the fifth over, and ended the Powerplay with four successive fours. He soon reached his half-century, and was on 71 when he ended up holing out to Craig Young. Nissanka too struck six fours and a six for his 47-ball 61 as Sri Lanka finished on 171/7 in 20 overs.
For Ireland, Little picked four wickets, while Mark Adair claimed two wickets to his name.
Ireland did not have a great start. They lost three wickets inside the Powerplay. Curtis Campher (24) and Andy Balbirnie (41) added 53 for the fourth wicket before the latter was bowled by Theekshana.
The innings never gathered momentum and they were skittled out for 101. Barring Balbirnie and Campher, none of the batters could even cross ten runs.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 171/7 in 20 overs (Wanindu Hasaranga 71; Josh Little 4-23) beat Ireland 101 in 18.3 overs (Andrew Balbirnie 41; Maheesh Theekshana 3-17) by 70 runs. Player of the Match: Wanindu Hasaranga.