Sports
Walking away with his head held high
by Rex Clementine
Cricket has given us different types of leaders from whom we can learn much. While the nation’s first Test captain Bandula Warnapura fought tooth and nail for his men, Arjuna Ranatunga was the general, who knew only two ways – my way or the highway. Sanath Jayasuriya could be tough when he had to but mostly democratic in his approach. No body could match MJ when it came to tactical brilliance while Sanga lead by example leaving no stone unturned in pursuit of success for himself and his team. What kind of captain was Dimuth Karunaratne, whose term ended recently with the appointment of his deputy Dhananjaya de Silva as the Test captain.
Dimuth took over at a period of uncertainty in 2019. Prior to that in less than two years there had been four Test captains while the limited overs team was in a similar turmoil with multiple captains.
Players clashed with coaches and even selectors and there was deep infighting within the players. The reputation of Sri Lankan cricket had suffered huge blows after they were caught tampering with the ball in West Indies. Manager, Head Coach and Captain were all suspended by the ICC. Into the bargain, there was a corruption scandal as well with a record number of ICC investigations initiated on Sri Lanka. Dimuth took over at a troubled time with people suspicious about our cricket but soon brought transparency into the set up. Gradually Sri Lanka earned back the respect.
Dimuth was a laid-back leader. The team culture when he took over was a rigid one. Strict curfews, little trust among players, each one looking over the other’s shoulder were all affecting the team. The new captain brought in some easiness. He gave the players freedom and told them to trust their instincts playing without fear. This brought in much needed calm within the Sri Lankan set up.
There have been some coaches during his tenure who were masterminds with tactics but very poor man managers. This is where Dimuth’s expertise came in. He managed players quite well. His mantra was come to me with your problems and I will stand by you.
The results were instant. His first series as captain was South Africa. Sri Lanka headed there straight from Canberra where the newly appointed captain had been taken to hospital after being hit by a bouncer. He wasn’t alone. There was KJP as company to him.
Dimuth’s leadership style worked as the team culture was changed overnight. Sri Lanka recorded a come from behind Test match win in Durban. That was followed by another sensational victory in Port Elizabeth.
To this day, Sri Lanka is the only Asian team to win a Test series in South Africa. To this day, only one Asian captain has won a Test series in South Africa. Not M.S. Dhoni, not Younis Khan, not Virat Kohli, not Wasim Akram but Dimuth Frank Karunaratne.
Dimuth won 12 Test matches as captain, which is the same amount the great Arjuna Ranatunga won. Some of those Test wins were against teams like Australia and Pakistan and last year under his watch Sri Lanka had a shot at the World Test Championship final before finishing a commendable fifth.
Sometimes captains tend to overstay their welcomes. But to his credit once the last Test Championship cycle was over, he told the selectors that he intended to step down. There was lot of common sense in his sentiments. He explained that he wanted the new leader to assert himself before the new cycle of Test Championship began. However, the selectors persuaded him to stay on and he hung around reluctantly.
Under Dimuth’s watch, Sri Lanka turned a huge corner. He was kind of a leader who minded his own business and wanted fellow professionals to live up to expectations. But at times he was too easy going. When you have incorrigible individuals like Niroshan Dickwella, you need to put your foot down and assert yourself. What Dickwella does off the field is none of our business, but when he crosses that white line, he better remember that he is representing his country.
Dickwella was one player whom Dimuth trusted heavily. He showed continuous confidence in his keeper despite some horror reviews. Dimuth was told that his keeper needed to get his act together, but as a leader he failed to reign in the young man. Some of those reviews cost Sri Lanka heavily.
In order to persist with Dickwella, the argument that Dimuth put forward was that he was the best keeper in the country. Nobody denied it. Bue he needed to get his reviews right and show more maturity with the bat. Ironically, it was a dropped catch that eventually pushed Dickwella out of the side with the selectors losing patience finally.
Overall, it’s been a terrific run for Dimuth. He took up the captaincy at a difficult time and didn’t abandon the team when the going got tough. More importantly he is leaving the side in a better place than he found it.
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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