Sports
Sri Lanka set aside their worst fears
by Rex Clementine
at Pallekele
There’s a fair bit to be done for Sri Lanka to get back to their glory days in cricket, but you can safely say that the team has a taken huge strides to achieve that target. Yes, the drubbing by Pakistan at SSC and in Galle are still fresh in memories but Test cricket is one format where they have done reasonably well.
It is the white ball formats the team has struggled, playing multiple qualifying tournaments in the last three years across T-20s and ODIs. T-20 cricket has reached a safety zone, no doubt about it and the automatic qualification for next year’s tournament in the US and West Indies is proof for that.
ODI format is still a work in progress, but there are impressive signs. The team’s bowling is pretty formidable with both the quicks and spin departments bowling sides out with some impressive performances. If they make a genuine effort to fix the injury woes, that will be a massive relief. This Asia Cup, they are literally depending on their seconds string attack.
There were doubts how Matheesha Pathirana will go. He has pace sure, but accuracy was a question mark and there were doubts whether he will be as good as in the 50 over format as he was in the 20 overs game.
Was it the right decision to pick him over Pramod Madushan and Binura Fernando, some of us wondered? What an inspired decision it proved to be.
In his first spell, Matheesha accounted for the big wicket of Shakib-al-Hasan and then in the second spell claimed the wicket of Mushfiqur Rahim, the other experienced batter in the opposition line-up. Then the tail couldn’t handle his pace and his four-wicket haul gave Sri Lanka a much-needed win and fears of the team might not being able to make it to the second round were set aside.
Maheesh Theekshana was sensational as well making early inroads bowling with the new ball. His variations are confusing, and batters aren’t able to play him with confidence. Of course, there will be bigger challenges when they play India and Pakistan.
Then there’s Dhananjaya de Silva, a very underrated cricketer. You can always be assured of his ten overs for not many and he gives you the much-needed cover at number six. Why the selectors picked Kusal Mendis ahead of Dhananjaya as vice-captain is confusing indeed.
Mendis of course is on borrowed time. He’s been on borrowed time for quite some time now, but they seem to create roles for him to fit into the side. How much we can go on saying that he has got talent and that he is the future of the team needs to rest and other deserving players need to be looked at.
If Sadeera Samarawickrama had got half the chances that Mendis had got, he would have won us many more games. It remains to be seen if Kusal Perera is fit, whether the selectors will have the courage to axe Mendis. Of course, that will make the selectors look dumb. Not often do you drop your vice-captain from the side. However, they have done dumber things than this.
Sadeera first came into the scene in 2017 and should have gone onto become a permanent fixture. But once Graham Labrooy, who picked him finished his term, he was thrown in the cold store and successive selection panels didn’t even bother to try him out.
If a player’s work ethic and attitude doesn’t impress selectors or the team management, there is certainly something wrong in the system. That’s one reason why we have struggled so much.
How well Sadeera batted against Bangladesh after the top order had collapsed. His only blemish is that he plays too many attacking shots too early in the innings. Even on Thursday, he had an opportunity to prove his mettle by finishing off the game, but he threw away his wicket. He will learn.
However, Mendis, whether he will learn is a big question mark. So is Niroshan Dickwella. The opportunities these two have got, had we invested on some others, we would have made rapid progress. Better later than never.
Young batters putting up their hands and making it count has helped Sri Lanka to move forward in the right direction. Pathum Nissanka has already established himself and then there’s Charith Asalanka, who has played some match winning knocks under pressure. He didn’t carry a lot of form into the Asia Cup but the unbeaten 62 at Pallekele would have given him lot of confidence.
The unsung hero of Sri Lanka’s recent success is Kasun Rajitha. It’s a pity that even in these pages, we discuss him last. Often Rajitha ends up without taking a wicket but what the scorecard doesn’t say is that how many catches were dropped off him. Captain Dasun Shanaka put down one against Bangladesh and poor Rajitha continues to suffer.
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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