2nd T20I: Sadeera Samarawickrama scores maiden T20I fifty versus Afghanistan
Sadeera Samarawickrama anchored the innings for Sri Lanka in the second T20I against Afghanistan in Dambulla. This was his maiden fifty in T20I cricket as he slammed a 42-ball 51 which helped the hosts reach a decent total of 187/6. Samarawickrama held one end and allowed the others to go to hell for leather. His knock was laced with five boundaries.
A watchful hand from Samarawickrama
Samarawickrama walked out in the middle when SL were 49/2 in 4.2 overs. He kept the scoreboard ticking and struck odd boundaries. He added 37 runs with Dhananjaya de Silva but soon the latter was dismissed. He kept losing partners after that until he stitched up a 66-run partnership with Angelo Mathews. Eventually, Samarawickrama was dismissed via hit wicket off Naveen-ul-Haq's bowling.
A look at his T20I numbers
The 28-year-old has had to wait for 14 T20Is since making his debut for Sri Lanka to hammer his maiden fifty. With this knock, Samarawickrama completed 200 (212) from 14 T20Is at 16.30. He also owns a strike rate of 104.43. He has 2,350-plus runs from 96 T20s at an average of over 29. He has hammered 14 fifties and a ton in T20s.
Here's the summary of the SL innings
Sri Lanka started brightly as their openers added 45 runs. But they lost a few wickets and were derailed in the middle overs until Samarawickrama and Mathews stitched up a 66-run partnership which helped them reach a challenging total of 187/6 in 20 overs. Samarawickrama hammered a fifty while Mathews played a crucial 42-run knock. Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi claimed two wickets each.
Samarawickrama has performed well in the Lanka Premier League
Samarawickrama was the fifth-highest run-getter in the Lanka Premier League 2023. He finished with 234 runs from 10 matches for his team Dambulla Aura. He had a better LPL 2022 when he returned with 294 runs from nine matches at an average of 58.8. He was the second-highest run-getter in the LPL 2022. Samarawickrama also bagged the 'Man of the Tournament" award in 2022.
