Sri Lanka survived a scare to beat Ireland by 9 runs at Lord’s. Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat. Jayawardena saved Sri Lanka some blushes to guide the team to 144/9. The Irish bowlers bowled a good line and length. Cusack was the main strike bowler. He took 4 wickets, including that of man of the match, Jayawardena. 

The Lankans were jolted by two quick wickets. In-form batsman, Dilshan, was out for a duck, while Sangakkara scored 3 runs. The team was reduced to 14/2. Jayasuriya and Jayawardena scored 67 runs for the third wicket to pull Sri Lanka out of trouble. Jayawardena was more aggressive of the two batsman. He scored 78 runs off 53 balls. After Jayasuriya was out, the team started losing wickets. Jayawardena was the only solid force behind the team’s batting. He was eventually bowled by Cusack. 
 

In reply, Ireland made a good start, scoring 59 runs for the first wicket. Niall O’Brien and Porterfield scored 31 runs each. The team had wickets in hand, but was behind the required run rate all the time. After the openers were dismissed, Mooney showed aggression scoring an unbeaten 31 off 21 balls. Kevin was out for a duck. Malinga and Mendis put breaks on Irish batting to ensure there was no upset. The two bowlers took 2 wickets each. Ireland fell short by 9 runs and finished on 135/7. The team will take heart of the fact that it put up a good fight against a good team.
 

Sri Lanka – 144/9 (Jayawardena 78, Cusack 4/18)

Ireland – 135/7 (Porterfield 31, Mooney 31*, Malinga 2/19)

Result – Sri Lanka won by 9 runs

Man-of-the-match – Mahela Jayawardena

Venue – Lord’s, London (June 14, 2009)