Sports
Mahela on Sri Lanka’s long road to greatness again
Rex Clementine
in Sydney
After a painful rebuilding process that dragged on for years, the Sri Lankan cricket team is showing signs of turning things around. Their brilliant show in the Asia Cup in UAE was proof that the team has turned things around. The World Cup should have been the next big step forward but injuries to six players has made Sri Lanka less effective. Former captain Mahela Jayawardene is with the team as Consultant Coach and he is confident that the process that’s in place will bring the team the desired results.
“We have tried to address a few issues like fitness and fielding. You saw in Asia Cup how well we fielded. We have to maintain that. It was a program that we started and we need to persevere with that. We have some good talents and we need to make this side competitive again. Within one year, this team has improved in quality and competitiveness. The way they think about the game has changed. They have taken smart decisions. That’s what we need to keep working on,” Jayawardene told Sunday Island in an interview.
Sri Lanka were beaten by Australia earlier this week. But it was a close game than what Marcus Stoinis eventually made it to look having smashed a 15 ball half-century. “If you take the Aussie game, it was a different pitch. It was a new stadium. We had plans accordingly. Batters did a decent job but the middle order didn’t get us enough runs. Probably we were 15 or 20 runs short. A couple of mistakes on our part. Then losing Binura in the first over was massive. On that wicket not having your fast bowler was a huge blow. Australia knew that the wicket was not offering much help for our spinners and they went after them,” he explained.
“We did a few good things in that game but more importantly, we have to rectify those mistakes and move forward. You have to face games like that in a World Cup. This Sydney wicket is totally different from what we got in Perth. So we need to plan accordingly and if we do things right, we can make it to the semis.”
Lahiru Kumara was the cynosure of all eyes in Perth having bowled a hostile spell. Mahela was impressed that coming back from injury, Kumara didn’t take much time to make his presence felt. “Lahiru has done that before. He was injured and he was almost out for nine months. He has not had match experience, but since the first game in this campaign he has been on the money. He has pace and he has control. That’s important. He troubled quite a few Aussies not just Maxi.”
After the Perth games Sri Lanka were ruing injuries to Dushmantha Chameera and Dilshan Madushanka. With those two guys in, a total of 157 could have been defended. “More than Dilshan not having Chameera was a blow. Playing in Australia if we had someone like him that would have been superb. Very unfortunate. But we have players who have a lot of skill over here. They may lack experience but they can improve and could become an asset.”
But what’s been the reason for so many injuries. “We can’t point out one reason. Geelong was the venue we played, so that could have been one reason as it is a football ground and there was a lot of rain and the surface had become soft. We had played quite a few games at a stretch and that could be another reason. No point of chatting about it now but once we go back home, we need to get down as a group and discuss how we can avoid such situations in the future. We had a few chats. But we need to go back home and address these issues scientifically.”
Sri Lanka play two games in Sydney and Mahela felt that the spinners need to get their plans right with one boundary being short. “The wicket is good in Sydney. If we can adjust quickly that will be an important thing, both batters and bowlers. The bowlers in particular because one side of the boundary is short and we need to get our plans right. We have a chance. The path for our World Cup semi-final dreams are still in our hands. “
“We saw the past games in Sydney and analyzed how teams bowled and all that. We need to think out of the box. Our bowlers are different to theirs. Every game is important and we have some pressure and we need to control that pressure.”
While the top order has done their job, leading into Saturday’s game against New Zealand, the middle order is yet to fire and Mahela hoped that they come into the party soon. “It’s important that our middle order batters get runs. These things happen in a World Cup. Not all our batters could be not amongst runs. When you are at the business end of a World Cup only you need to raise your performances. Players like Dasun and Bhanuka are very important for the side. They were amongst runs in the warm-up games. We haven’t got big contributions from them yes but I am sure at crunch games they will deliver.
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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