Sports
Under pressure Sri Lanka need big win over UAE
Rex Clementine
in Geelong
We have just finished two days of the T-20 World Cup and have already seen two huge upsets. After three-time finalists Sri Lanka were humbled by Namibia, who won by 55 runs, in a Group ‘A’ game in Geelong, Scotland stunned two times champions West Indies with a 42-run win, in a Group ‘B’ fixture in Hobart.
Today Sri Lanka will take on UAE in Geelong under lights and prior to that Namibia and Netherlands will play at the same venue.
Sri Lanka’s Net Run Rate is -2.75 and not only do they need to win today but win big as well. A second win against the Netherlands on Thursday is good enough for Dasun Shanaka’s side to qualify without worrying about Net Run Rate, but rain is predicted for later this week and if the last game is a washout, teams can be tied on points and then it will come to the Net Run Rate in deciding which team will go through. That’s why Sri Lanka need to keep an eye on Net Run Rate.
Geelong has drop-in pitches and the one on which the curtain raiser of the competition was played proved to be two-paced. Sri Lanka’s batters tried some big shots but shot-making wasn’t easy on a wicket where the ball wasn’t coming onto the bat and their efforts turned out to be top edges.
Sri Lanka’s spinners fared better than the quicks as the eight overs of Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga went for only 50 runs while the 12 overs of pace went for 112 runs. While spin cost 6.25 runs an over, pace went for more than 9.3 runs.
Pace had been Sri Lanka’s weapon against associates during the first round in the last World Cup and Shanaka backed them in this edition as well. But that backfired and the captain didn’t have much of time to reassess and fall back to his part-time spinners. It didn’t help that Dushmantha Chameera returning to the side after injury bowled a poor second spell.
Lahiru Kumara comes into the equation for today’s game and it remains to be seen whom he will replace. If the extra pace is what Sri Lanka are looking for, it’s not a bad idea to bring him in for Chamika Karunaratne, but they are unlikely to go that path as they need Chamika’s batting at number eight. But if your top seven aren’t going to get you the runs, it doesn’t make any sense to expect number eight to bail you out.
There have been various readings about Sri Lanka’s predicament. While some have been quick to point out that the team had a similar campaign in the Asia Cup where they were humbled by Afghanistan before going on to win five straight games. Put under pressure, Sri Lanka brought their best out in UAE and they are having their back to the walls again here in Geelong after a pathetic display in front of 17,000 adoring fans who had driven down from Melbourne, Victoria’s main city which is one hour from the outskirt.
Some have argued that how Sri Lanka are better off in Group Two of the Super 12 stage which looks like an extended version of the Asia Cup with India, Pakistan and Bangladesh pooled alongside one of the qualifiers. Defending Champions Australia, last year’s losing finalists New Zealand and losing semi-finalists England are in Group One along with Afghanistan and possibly West Indies now. But that will be the last thing on Sri Lanka’s mind right now. They would just want to get two wins under their belts and go through.
Sunday’s defeat was Sri Lanka’s first loss to Namibia in any form of cricket. The moment they dismissed David Wiese, Namibia slipped to 93 for six in the 15th over and then they took the foot off the gas and then a 69-run stand followed for the seventh wicket between J.J. Smit and Jan Frylinck, who took the game away from Sri Lanka. It was Namibia’s first win against a team ranked among the top ten.
Sri Lanka’s total of 108 all out is their lowest against an Associate nation.
Brazil are the unlikely candidates to have claimed two cricket records as one of their bowlers took a record nine wickets – including five in a row – in their 189-run T20 Women’s International victory against Lesotho in Botswana.
Having won the toss on Thursday, at the BCA Kalahari Women’s T20 International Tournament, Brazil posted a daunting 202-8 with wicketkeeper Monnike Machado hitting 69 off 41.
The fun, for the Brazilians, was only just beginning, though, as Laura Cardoso claimed a hat-trick with the last three deliveries of her first over – the second of the Lesotho innings – to set in motion the incredible feat that eventually saw the Africans bowled out for 13.
The 21-year-old then continued her wicket-taking achievement with a Women’s T20 International first of five dismissals in a row as she struck with the first two balls of her second over. This was all part of claiming the first nine Lesotho wickets to fall, but being denied the chance to take all 10 after a change of bowling following her third over. Her final wicket was Ret’sepile Limema, who fell to the fifth ball of the fifth over, with Cardoso replaced for the following over at that end. Her nine wickets, nevertheless, is the best return in either men’s or women’s T20 internationals.
The right-arm seamer did, indeed, come close to another hat-trick, when she claimed wickets with the last two balls of her second over, which itself totalled four victims.
Cardoso, who has has taken 55 wickets in 48 T20 matches for Brazil, replaces Indonesia’s Rohmalia Rohmalia at the top of the Women’s T20 best bowling rankings, as she finished with figures of 3-2-4-9.
Rohmalia had claimed seven wickets in 2024 in a match against Mongolia in Bali. Only three other women have claimed seven in a T20 international.
The men’s record, and the overall in the format, had been held by Bhutan’s Sonam Yeshey after he took eight wickets for seven runs against Myanmar last year.
The previous record for the number of wickets in consecutive deliveries was four, and was jointly held with the most prominent occasion in women’s cricket being when Shakera Selman pulled off the feat for the West Indies against Pakistan in 2018. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan and Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga are among the most notable bowlers from the men’s game to have claimed four consecutively in the format.
Although a huge winning margin, Brazil’s overall win does not compare with Argentina’s record after they beat Chile by 364 runs in 2023. The Argentinians had struck 427-1 to set up their victory.
Lesotho’s part in the record extends to no further than Cardoso’s haul, with the record-lowest total belonging to Mali, who were bowled out for 6 in 2019 by Rwanda.
Brazil, who lead the six-team tournament with five straight wins, play Mozambique on Friday.
[Aljazeera]
| Date | Match |
|---|---|
| May 3 | 1st ODI |
| May 6 | 2nd ODI |
| May 9 | 3rd ODI |
| May 12 | 1st T20I |
| May 14 | 2nd T20I |
| May 15 | 3rd T20I |
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