Sri Lanka regret batting approach

Rex Clementine
in New York

Sri Lanka’s strategies in their opening encounter of the T-20 World Cup in New York weren’t up to scratch but the team has promised to fight back to earn qualification to the second round. The toss became the talking point among many while the batting approach raised eyebrows among even former players.

Captain Wanindu Hasaranga conceded that the team had a total of 160 in mind whereas something in the range of 120 could have helped contain South Africa.

New York was a two paced wicket. The outfield was outrageous with the ball not travelling at all. After the first four overs, you could sense that this is not the ideal T-20 wicket as seen in IPL and all, but Sri Lanka kept trying to be aggressive and lost wickets at regular intervals.

Hasaranga has had tremendous successes promoting himself up the order as a floater. He did the same on Monday but was dismissed for a second ball duck giving Keshav Maharaj the charge. Sadeera Samarawickrama followed next ball putting the left-arm spinner on a hat-trick. He may have cooked his goose with Sri Lanka’s next fixture in Dallas against Bangladesh becoming a must win game. Dhananjaya de Silva, who is among the reserves, could get drafted into the side.

It’s a pity that the team’s think tank did not assess conditions. It was all too evident that this was going to be a low scoring game but the batters kept trying to clear the boundary and South Africa kept picking up wickets. Once again Sri Lanka were guilty of not utilizing the quote of 20 overs.

South Africa did struggle during the run chase. But a total of 77, Sri Lanka’s lowest ever in T-20 Internationals, wasn’t even going to test Uganda, a team making their debut in the competition.

Heinrich Klaasen, who made 19 during the run chase said that South Africa were surprised that Sri Lanka put them in. On a track where there had been little international cricket, South Africa were planning to bowl first to see what the track had on offer.

Anrich Nortje was a treat to watch. Probably the quickest bowler in the world, he finished with career best figures of four for seven and wreaked havoc by dismissing Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis Charith Asalanka and Angelo Mathews.

It was a pity that even deep into the innings, Sri Lankan batters kept playing their shots and failed to assess the wicket.