A masterly all-round performance by leg-spinner Upul Chandana helped Sri Lanka squeeze the United Arab Emirates and register a 116 run victory over the minnows in their day-night Asia Cup encounter in Dambulla today.
An indifferent batting performance saw the hosts being dismissed for a modest 239, but the Lankans then bowled out the Emirates for a meagre 123 in 47.5 overs.
Chandana, whose cameo 21 off 24 balls helped the struggling hosts get past the 200 mark, grabbed four for 22 to ensure that the islanders avoided any major embarrassment in the six-nation tournament.
Avishka Gunawardene's well-paced 73 off 89 balls was pivotal to the Lankan innings while record-breaking off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan marked his return to international cricket with figures of three for 21. Murali had withdrawn from the two-Test tour of Australia that ended just last week citing 'personal reasons'.
Left-arm paceman Nuwan Zoysa picked up two for 11 to complete the UAE rout.
The only real plus point for the rookie UAE side was that they managed to stretch the Lankans to almost 50 overs in an extremely mismatched contest.
There was some interest in the initial stages of the game when Sri Lanka struggled on a slow wicket, but Gunawardene, playing his first limited overs game in 15 months, hauled them out of a tight spot.
Gunawardene, out of favour for long but afforded a chance today as captain Marvan Atapattu and medium-pacer Chaminda Vaas pulled out because of fatigue, combined with stand-in captain Mahela Jayawardene to put on 64 runs for the third wicket. Their partnership provided the basis for the team's total.
The left-hander was finally out when he tried to clear the widish long-on fence off Khurram Khan, but was caught brilliantly by Sameer Zia near the fence.
Earlier, the UAE bowlers once again exploited the turning track at Dambulla on which they had managed to rein in the Indians to 260 for six yesterday.
Captain Khurram Khan grabbed four for 32 to give his team a flicker of hope of registering a famous upset and entering the Super League stage of the six-nation tournament.
The Lankans were off to a sparkling start, thanks to former captain Sanath Jayasuriya (21) and Saman Jayantha (18) who put on 39 runs in the first eight overs. But the loss of both openers for the addition of just two runs thereafter ruined the good work.
Khurram Khan claimed his first victim when he bowled Tillakaratne Dilshan for six and then had Kandamby caught by
Syed Maqsood. He also claimed Gunawardene's wicket before Chandana and Nuwan Zoysa (21) made sure the team crossed 200. In between, Khan bowled Muthiah Muralitharan.