Sri Lanka beat Netherlands by 206 runs in fifth ODI

Colombo, September 16: Marvan Atapattu gained valuable batting practice as he slammed a solid 101 in Sri Lanka's 206-run victory over an inexperienced Netherlands in the Champions Trophy one-day cricket tournament on Monday.

Sri Lanka became the first side in the 12-nation tournament to qualify for the semi-finals with their second successive victory in a three-team group. They beat Pakistan by eight wickets in their opening game.

Veteran opener Atapattu hit eight boundaries in his sixth century as Sri Lanka posted 292-6 after electing to bat in the day-night match at the Premadasa Stadium.

The Netherlands were dismissed for 86 in just 29.3 overs in their opening match as they failed to cope with the experienced Sri Lankan pace-spin attack on a slow wicket.

Middle-order batsman Tim de Leede was the top-scorer with 31, hitting five boundaries in his 43-ball knock. Edgar Schiferli (15) and Reinout Scholte (12) were the other batsman to reach double-figures.

Ace Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan boosted his bowling averages as he finished with 4-15 off 5.3 overs against a weak team in a match which provided the host players with an opportunity to regain form ahead of the semi-finals.

Man-of-the-match Atapattu, who scored eight against Pakistan in the previous game, was never seriously tested by the Netherlands who were playing only their sixth one-day international.

The Netherlands, who played their last big game in the 1996 World Cup, qualified for this event after winning last year's ICC Trophy in Canada in a tournament played among associate members of the sport's world governing body.

The current team had only four cricketers with experience of playing one-day internationals.

The Dutch did not fare badly in the field, considering their inexperience. They fielded enthusiastically and bowled well in patches to make things a bit difficult for the Sri Lankans.

Medium-pacer Roland Lefebvre and off-spinner Adeel Raja shared four wickets, while fielder Bas Zuiderent ran out Mahela Jayawardene (14) with a direct-throw.

Atapattu was the only batsman to play a long innings, putting on 59 for the opening wicket with skipper Sanath Jayasuriya (36) and 116 for the next with Kumar Sangakkara (41).

Sangakkara also needed runs ahead of the semi-finals, having failed to score against Pakistan. He spent valuable time in the middle, hitting five fours in his 68-ball knock.