Sports
Dumb Cricket
Rex Clementine in Dallas
There have been many surprises this World Cup. Sri Lanka are facing elimination without progressing to the second round, but far worse is the situation of some of the pre-tournament favourites such as Pakistan, who lost to USA and New Zealand, who were embarrassed by Afghanistan.
Sri Lankan fans on Friday were stunned to silence as the batters committed hara-kiri. From 100 for three with six overs remaining, even if they had scored run a ball, they would have got to the 140 mark which would have taken them over the line.
Pity that experienced batters failed to read conditions. Worse, they didn’t learn after the South African embarrassment, where Sri Lanka were bowled out for their lowest total ever.
America like big things. Their cars are big, their houses are enormous and even their food portions are gigantic. The same goes with their grounds. These are massive playing fields. But the pitches are two paced and the outfield is slow. There aren’t going to be any high scoring games here. It’s going to be a slow grind.
Yet, so many Sri Lankan batters perished playing big shots. When field restrictions are on, that’s fine. But trying to do the same after the first six overs is suicidal. Big hitting is not the cup of tea for say someone like Charith Asalanka. Yet, he got out trying to be Vivian Richards in both games. In New York, he took on of all people Anrich Nortje. In Dallas he not only tried to hit against spin but against wind too. And you thought Asalanka is a smart cricketer than that. Milking the bowling would have been the order of the day.
Bangladesh ran a few threes. They ran several twos. Sri Lanka were content with singles. It’s not a question of lack of fitness. It’s a case of lack of cricket awareness. Gone are the days of Davenlle Fredrick Whatmore when he used to teach that there was a run for the throw when the ball went deep. His mantra was that you had to put pressure on the fielder.
Qualification now for Sri Lanka is not in their hands. They’ve got to expect that Bangladesh lose two more games, South Africa win all and they beat Netherlands and Nepal with a good net run rate. It could well happen. But there’s no point in playing cricket like that.
It’s been a sorry campaign. The scheduling, yes, it has been tough. But as professionals you are expected to rise to these demands.
T-20 World Cups are cutthroat tournaments. Margin for error is zero. Sri Lanka have learned a bitter lesson.
It’s taking longer than most expected, but Bangladesh are inevitably moving towards history. Bangladesh and Pakistan will go into a fifth day in Sylhet, with Bangladesh on the cusp of another 2-0 clean sweep of Pakistan. They need just three wickets to get there, with Mohammed Rizwan, unbeaten on 75, the final, valiant point of resistance for a visiting side who still need an improbable 121 for victory.
It was thanks primarily to Rizwan, and his 134-run partnership with Salman Agha in the final session, that kept Bangladesh waiting for so long when they appeared to be on course to finish Pakistan off. But two crucial wickets from Taijul Islam – who bowled more than a third of the overs on Tuesday – in the final half hour saw that partnership broken, and the hosts burrow deep into Pakistan’s tail.
Rizwan and Agha got together off the back of three quick wickets, and a resurgent Bangladesh sniffing for a quick knockout. Instead, they held them at bay for over three hours, counterattacking early on before seeing off wave after wave of spin and seam from Bangladesh. Even as Bangladesh attacked with the field, the duo kept run-scoring front and centre of their survival strategy, using their feet against spin and timing the ball expertly when pace returned.
That the stand had begun to frustrate Bangladesh became evident when tempers flared in the final hour, with Litton Das taking exception to Rizwan slowing play down after disturbances from the sightscreen. The contest took on a distinct edge, but the Pakistan pair did not lose focus, inching their way towards stumps.
No more wickets might have given Bangladesh a sleepless night, but Taijul put them at ease. With Nahid Rana operating with a new ball from the other end, Taijul produced an arm delivery that skidded through Agha’s defences and knocked back his stumps, prompting wild celebrations from the hosts, who understood the importance of the moment. Hasan Ali, whom Rizwan curiously decided against shielding from the strike, posed little resistance, leaving Bangladesh just three wickets adrift.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 232 and 316 for 7 (Shan Masood 71, Babar Azam 47, Salman Agha 71, Mohammad Rizwan 75*; Taijul Islam 4-113, Nahid Rana 2-58) need another 121 runs to beat Bangladesh 278 and 390
[Cricinfo]
Sri Lanka Cricket’s new transformation committee has had “cordial and constructive” discussions with Imran Khwaja, the ICC’s deputy chair, according to a member of the new SLC committee.
Khwaja had been in Ari Lanka over the last few days to gather information as the ICC decides what its response to the sweeping government-led changes at SLC should be. During the course of that visit, Khwaja not only spoke with members of SLC’s transformation committee, but also met with Sri Lanka’s president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, whose government had installed the committee after ousting the previous board.
Sidath Wettimuny one of the committee’s nine members, said SLC’s new administrators were hopeful the ICC would continue to treat the board as a regular Full Member.
But the ICC has a track record of reprimanding SLC because of perceived government interference. In 2023, SLC was suspended over “extensive government interference” and, in 2015, the ICC had also frozen payments over a previous “interim committee” having been appointed by the then government.
This current committee, however, has said its goals were to replace SLC’s archaic constitution, before making way for a new set of elected officials.
The ICC has so far made no comments on the change of administration at SLC.
The committee, formally unveiled on April 30, has nine members, including Kumar Sangakkara, Wettimuny and Roshan Mahanama. The majority of the members, though, hail from corporate, legal, and political spheres, with former member of parliament Eran Wickramaratne appointed as chair.
“Our immediate priority is a total overhaul of the governance framework at SLC,” Wettimuny had said after the committee members were named. “The cornerstone of this effort will be the implementation of the new constitution, ensuring it serves as a robust, modern foundation for the sport.”
The committee’s second priority would be to ensure “excellence on the field,” Wickramaratne had said. “We will focus on establishing the structures, world-class facilities, and incentive models necessary to empower our national teams. Our goal is to enable our players to consistently deliver world-class performances and elevate Sri Lanka back to the top tier of international rankings.”
[Cricinfo]
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