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Can spluttering Sri Lanka get up to full speed at the World Cup Qualifier?

Published

3 years ago

2023/06/19

Priyan

Dushmantha Chameera will be among Sri Lanka's key players at the World Cup Qualifier (pic Cricinfo)

Champions once, runners-up twice, a semi-final and quarter-final thrown in for good measure, and ever present in the tournament since making their first appearance in 1975. Safe to say, Sri Lanka’s World Cup record is far from shabby. But now, for the first time in their history, they are in genuine danger of missing out altogether.

Unthinkable? Perhaps. Impossible? Not so much. But how did it come to this? Well, to get the obvious answer out of the way, quite frankly, they haven’t been all that good.

Since the end of the 2019 World Cup, Sri Lanka have won just 18 of 42 ODIs, out of which 23 were part of the World Cup Super League. Of those, they won seven.

Much of this dismal record is primarily down to their batting. In this period, Sri Lanka have crossed the 300-mark just nine times, and struggled in nearly every key batting metric. Dot-ball percentage in the last ten overs? 38.26%. Scoring rate in that phase? A mere 7.38, putting them ninth out of 12 Test-playing nations; only Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan have been worse – two of them they will likely be facing in the qualifiers. even in the crucial middle-over period (11-40) they dwell near the bottom, eighth this time, striking at 5.02 per over with half (50.52%) of the balls they faced being dots.

But it must also be noted that Sri Lanka had a particularly rough set of fixtures for this World Cup Super League cycle. Four of the eight series they played were against India, South Africa, England and New Zealand – the last two away from home.

While they won just one of those, what really dented their chances were the away defeats to Bangladesh and West Indies. And yet, this is a side that has beaten both South Africa and Australia at home – the latter series, as luck would have it, was not part of the Super League – and most recently strung together some impressive displays against Afghanistan – also at home – a team that comfortably qualified for the World Cup.

This, in a nutshell, is the story of Sri Lankan cricket over the last few years. Stifling lows mixed with thrilling highs. Not quite good enough for automatic qualification for the World Cup, but certainly not bad enough to rule out entirely.

So, here they are, in Zimbabwe to play a bunch of qualifiers, in conditions that will not even remotely resemble what they are likely to face in India later this year – provided they qualify of course.

Covid-19 meant that, despite his best intentions and enthusiasm, former head coach Mickey Arthur was hamstrung from the get-go. Tasked with revitalising the side after an abysmal showing at the 2019 World Cup, attempts to build trust and camaraderie while simultaneously trying to improve results was an entirely new challenge with social distancing, bio-bubbles and lockdowns thrown into the mix.

It was around this time that Sri Lanka Cricket also sought to usher in a more youth-centric policy, which has continued under Arthur’s replacement Chris Silverwood. The move, in fairness, paid dividends with Sri Lanka emerging as surprise Asia Cup winners last year, albeit in the T20 format. But in ODIs, there have only been glimpses of that same promise. A series whitewash at the hands of India at the start of the year, including a record 317 run defeat, was a particularly demoralising nadir.

Injuries too have played their part, with in-form Kusal Perera and Avishka Fernando missing a large chunk of Super League games. But more than that, it has been the absence of Dushmantha Chameera that has hurt. In Chameera, Sri Lanka have on their hands one of the world’s premier seamers, one who is able to execute precise plans at an express pace. A fit Chameera – whose workload is being carefully managed – will be at the forefront of any Sri Lankan success in the coming weeks and months.

On the face of it, it should be straightforward. While this is not Sri Lanka’s first qualifying experience – they had to qualify for the T20 World Cup last year – it is the first time they have been required to do so in the 50-over format.

The first round is unlikely to provide much trouble with Ireland likely to be the toughest opponents in a group that also has Scotland, UAE and Oman. It’s in the next stage, though, that the potential banana skins may arise.

Barring any surprises, Sri Lanka’s likely opponents in the Super Six round will be West Indies, hosts Zimbabwe, and one of Netherlands, Nepal or USA. The first two should provide the biggest challenge but one that this Sri Lanka side should be able to overcome.

However, if the past few years have shown anything, it is that this is a team capable of beating the best but also holds within itself the capacity to capitulate suddenly and frantically. It is why Sri Lanka’s loyal fanbase goes into these games with a grizzled sense of trepidation. A well-oiled machine, they are not. Rather, one that’s spluttering up to full speed, duct tape at the ready, hoping the wheels don’t come off, as they seek to build up a head of steam to power them through.

(Cricinfo)

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Typhoon Noul makes landfall in China, with hundreds of thousands evacuated

Published

9 hours ago

2026/07/26

Priyan

Passersby walk in Hong Kong's Mong Kok district under heavy rain and wind ahead of Typhoon Noul on Saturday, July 25, 2026 [Aljazeera]

Typhoon Noul has hit southern China, including Hong Kong, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the region and prompting the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people in Guangdong province.

China’s national weather centre said Noul made landfall on the coast of Huidong county in Huizhou, southern Guangdong province, at approximately 3:50am local time on Sunday (19:50 GMT on Saturday).

China’s official Xinhua News Agency said Noul was the strongest typhoon to make landfall in China so far this year.

Hong Kong’s Observatory said Noul, with maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometres per hour (68 miles per hour) near its centre, was moving Sunday into inland Guangdong and weakening progressively, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to parts of the region.

More than 715,000 people had been relocated for safety by early Sunday in Guangdong province, according to state-owned China National Radio. On Saturday, authorities said some 340,000 people were evacuated.

China’s National Meteorological Centre expected parts of southern Guangdong and southeastern Fujian provinces to experience heavy rain and strong winds over the weekend.

Many trees were seen uprooted in Huilai county, located on the coast of Guangdong province, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Hong Kong’s airport authority said about 350 flights were cancelled on Sunday. At least nine people were injured across the city during the typhoon period, according to Hong Kong authorities.

As Noul approached Hong Kong, parts of a large scaffolding on a high-rise building collapsed on Saturday afternoon, local police said, although initial reports indicated there were no injuries.

[Aljazeera]

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Colombo Kaps down Dambulla Sixers by 21 runs

Published

9 hours ago

2026/07/26

Priyan

Colombo Kaps defended 197 runs to win the 12th match of the Lanka Premier League by restricting Dambulla Sixers to 176/8 at the Dambulla International Cricket Stadium on Saturday [25] night.

SCORES:
Colombo Kaps 197/5 in 20 overs [Rubin Hermann 39, Sadeera Samarawickrema 16, Sharujan Shanmuganathan 12, Kamindu Mendis 88*, Ben McDermott 14, Janith Liyanage 17; Fazalhaq Farooki 1-41, Dushmantha Chameera 1-41, Ramesh Mendis 1-05, Gulabdin Naib 1-15]
Dambulla Sixers 176/8 in 20 overs [Pavan Rathnayake 50, Marques Ackerman 40, Gulabdin Naib 28, Maheesh Thhekshana 13; Shahnawaz Dahani 2-20, Wanuja Sahan 1-34, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2-33, Malsha Tharupathi 1-26, Milan Rathnayake 1-26]

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Kandy Royals win by 11 runs

Published

10 hours ago

2026/07/26

Priyan

Nuwan Thushara starred with three wickets

Kandy Royals’ bowlers led by Nuwan Thushara were able to defend their score of 165 to win the 11th match of the Lanka Premier League by defeating Galle Gallants by 11 runs at Dambulla on Saturday.

SCORES:
Kandy Royals 165/6 in 20 overs [Lahiru Udara 16, Dale Phillips 34, Wanidu Hasaranga 16, Moeen Ali 41, Angelo Mathews 28, Vijay Shankar 15; Pramod Madushan 2-41, Akif Javed 2-26, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 2-36]

Galle Gallants 154/8 in 20 overs [Sam Harper 14, Charith Asalanka 14, Chamika Karunarathne 52, Dasun Shanaka 57*; Nuwan Thushara 3-33, Asitha Fernando 2-33, Moeen Ali 1-11, Wanidu Hasaranga 1-26]