Sports
Should Hasaranga use ‘floater’ role as a surprise?
Rex Clementine in New York
Sri Lankan fans are still trying to come to terms with the inexplicable display the team put out in their opening encounter of the ICC T-20 World Cup. Captain Wanindu Hasaranga has received lot of flak after the team was bowled out for their lowest total ever in T-20 cricket.
Hasaranga’s decision to bat first on Monday has not gone down too well with fans. Rightly so. New York is unknown territory and the team could have been better off trying to figure out how the wicket behaved. Bowl first would have been the right option. As for South Africa, they were going to bowl first if they had won the toss for obvious reasons.
Most of us who have followed the game figured out within the first five overs that this is not a 160 wicket and perhaps you should revise your intended target to 125. But Sri Lanka’s batters kept losing their wickets trying to play shots. Nobody seemed to have told them that we have reassessed things.
The other aspect that has drawn lot of criticism is the captain promoting himself up the order to number four and picking a second ball duck. Now that criticism is unfair. Here’s why.
Having enjoyed unprecedented success in the last Lanka Premier League having promoted himself as a ‘floater’, Hasaranga tried the ploy in Sri Lankan colours too after being appointed captain. He has won games too having pushed himself up the order with his attacking batting. Despite the criticism he needs to keep doing it. After all, he has been currently rated as world’s number one all-rounder.
Hasaranga, however, can be bit smart with the move. Currently, he has become predictable. Opponents know that the Sri Lankan captain is going to throw the kitchen sink playing a few shots coming up the order. Why not use it as a surprise weapon? That’s the point the management and the selectors need to tell the captain.
Another point for the selectors to ponder is their choice of wicketkeeper. Kusal Mendis’ dropped catches in the opening game went unnoticed as there were several glaring errors with batting and decision making. But the team can not afford to have dropped catches heading into what’s a knockout game against Bangladesh. We all remember what happened with David Warner’s dropped catch when Sri Lanka played Australia in Dubai in the 2021 T-20 World Cup.
Is Kusal the best wicketkeeper in the squad? If Sadeera Samarawickrama is in the playing XI, why is he not keeping?
India capped off a dominant tri-series campaign in Colombo with a resounding win over Sri Lanka, posting their highest-ever women’s ODI total on Sri Lankan soil—344 for five —before bowling the hosts out for 245.
Smriti Mandhana led the charge with a superb 11th ODI hundred—her first against Sri Lanka—anchoring partnerships of 70 with Pratika Rawal and 120 with Harleen Deol.
Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Jemimah Rodrigues chipped in with brisk 40s, while India smashed 90 runs in the last 10 overs.
Despite a spirited effort, Sri Lanka’s daunting chase faltered. Chamari Atapattu’s 50 and a few half-century stands weren’t enough to close the gap. Seamer Amanjot Kaur struck early, removing two of the top three, while offspinner Sneh Rana starred with four for 38, finishing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker.
India’s batting wasn’t without drama—Rawal survived an early chance, and Mandhana was twice let off before unleashing her full range of strokes. She was especially brutal on Atapattu, sweeping her repeatedly through square leg and cover en route to a 92-ball century.
Amanjot’s return in the middle overs derailed the chase further, bowling Gunaratne and setting up Rana’s match-turning spell. Atapattu, despite reaching her 19th ODI fifty, was undone by Rana, who later removed three more to slam the door shut.
Late resistance from Sanjeewani and Kumari delayed the inevitable, but a run-out and two quick Rana strikes wrapped up the win.
India’s comprehensive display sent a strong message ahead of the Women’s World Cup, reaffirming their title credentials.
Brief scores:
India
342 for seven (Mandhana 116, Rodrigues 44, Kumari 2-59) beat Sri Lanka 245 (Atapattu 51, Rana 4-38, Amanjot 3-54) by 97 runs.
Apna Perera and Dinara de Silvaemerged as the men’s and women’s singles champions respectively at the 110th Colombo Championships continued at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts.
In the men’s singles final, Apna beat Ashen Silva 7-6, 6-1. Dinara registered convincing 6-1, 6-2 win over Venuli Jayasinghe in the women’s final.
In the boys’ Under 18 semi-finals, Ashlin de Silva beat Nethmika Wickramasinghe 6-2, 6-1 while Mayooran Kubheran beat Aahil Kaleel 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.
National champion Chamod Yodasinghe secured a creditable second place rank for an impressive performace of 10.27 seconds as he out did a strong field in the 100 metres at the Dubai Grand Prix on Friday.
Yodasinghe who was entered only for the 4x100m relay received a golden opportunity in Dubai when his request to run the 100 metres there was granted by the organisers. The athlete trained by sprint coach Sanjeewa Weerakkody equalled his personal best (10.27 seconds) in winning his race.
Incidentally, his winning time was second only to the winner of the first race where top ranked athletes including Yupun Abeykoon competed.
Oman’s Ali Al Balooshi was the fastest as he clocked 10.19 seconds while Abeykoon finished fifth with a time of 10.39 seconds.
Abeykoon who was making his first 100 metres appearance of the year was ranked sixth overall.
In the 4×100 metres relay Sri Lanka’s quartet finished third in a time of 39.41 seconds.
Yodasinghe will next compete at the Asian Athletics Championships later this month.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s 4×400 metres mixed relay team finished last in their heat at the World Relays in China yesterday.
by Reemus Fernando
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