Sloppy cricket sums up Sri Lanka’s woes

Rex Clementine in Delhi

Sri Lanka were awful with bat, ball and fielding on Monday but more alarmingly their behaviour was well below par as they refused to shake hands with the opposition after a hard fought three wicket loss to Bangladesh here in Delhi.

Captain Kusal Mendis had made a clown of himself by refusing to congratulate an opponent on Sunday and 24 hours later by taking the team straight off the field after the defeat he cut a sorry figure and if this is the kind of leadership that Sri Lanka wants to have at the helm, gloomy days are ahead of Sri Lanka.

In a game where tempers frayed, Bangladesh held onto their nerves to win their first World Cup game against Sri Lanka as the former champions woes went from bad to worse.

Angelo Mathews became the first player in the history of cricket to be ruled timed out. At the fall of Sadeera Samarawickrama’s wicket, the former captain walked into bat and took guard. The strap of his helmet gave away as he tried to tighten it and as he asked for a replacement he was ruled timed out.

Charith Asalanka played superbly to post his second ODI hundred but there was little support from the rest of the batters.

Bangladesh were excellent on the field catching everything, taking some stunners and in the process restricted Sri Lanka to a total under 300.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, were pathetic on the field spilling two chances and their ground fielding wasn’t up to scratch either.

Shakib-al-Hasan and Najmul Shanto were involved in a 159 partnership that steadied the Bangladesh innings after Dilshan Madushanka removed the openers cheaply.

Mathews made vital breakthroughs removing both batters but by that stage too much damage had been done.

Bangladesh struggled for a while losing a few quick wickets as Madushanka and Maheesh Theekshana struck but the run chase was well under control by that stage and they won with more than seven overs to spare to gain two more vital points.

Following the win, Bangladesh moved ahead of Sri Lanka in the points table to seventh position while Sri Lanka slipped to eighth.

Sri Lanka are now in danger of getting knocked out from the Champions Trophy as only the top eight teams in the World Cup go through for the event.