Sri Lanka slump to 129 despite Dinesh Chandimal 50

Despite a superb start provided by Dinesh Chandimal (50), Sri Lanka were restricted to 129/8, having been asked to bat by the United Arab Emirates in their Asia Cup T20 match here on Thursday. Skipper Amjad Javed took three wickets for the UAE.

Amjad decided to field after winning the toss. The teams played on a bare pitch, compared to the greener track used in the Bangladesh-India contest on Wednesday.

UAE fielded the same XI that took on Oman in their last qualifier match in Fatullah on February 22. Sri Lanka were boosted by the inclusion of regular T20 captain Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Rangana Herath and Nuwan Kulasekara after they missed the T20 series against India earlier this month. Sri Lanka picked allrounder Shehan Jayasuriya, while legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay did not find a place in the playing XI.

SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka: D. Chandimal c Mohammad Shahzad b Amjad Javed 50, T. Dilshan c Muhammad Usman b Amjad Javed 27, TAM Siriwardana c Saqlain Haider b Amjad Javed 6, MD Shanaka c Shaiman Anwar b Mohammad Naveed 5, A. Mathews lbw b Rohan Mustafa 8, Jayasuriya b Mohammad Naveed 10, K Kapugedera c Ahmed Raza b Mohammad Shahzad 10, N. Kulasekara c Patil b Mohammad Shahzad 7, D Chameera (not out) 1. Extras: (lb 1, w 4) 5. Total: (for 8 wkts, in 20 overs) 129. FoW: 1-68, 2-79, 3-89, 4-98, 5-105, 6-113, 7-123, 8-129. Bowling: Naveed 4-0-27-2, Qadeer 2-0-18-0, Javed 4-0-25-3, Shahzad 3-0-27-2, Raza 4-0-14-0, Mustafa 3-0-17-1.