Sports
Brain Dead
by Rex Clementine
Tuesday night the national cricket team’s status can only be summed up thus; brain-dead. Literally, everyone watching the match knew that Lakshan Sandakan that day was a spent force but Chamika Karunaratne was on a roll but no one seemed to be worried to pass the message onto captain Dasun Shanka. The end result was Sri Lanka snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
For a man who humbled Pakistan in their own backyard not so long ago, Shanaka sadly was out of depth on Tuesday and was running out of ideas faster than Bandula Gunawardene.
Shanaka’s deputy Dhananjaya de Silva is equally at fault. He is the most experienced player in the side and he did not bother to speak to the captain on bowling changes and field placing. Into the bargain, he played a horror shot to get out and his body language is not sending the right signals. Dhananjaya is a laid back character and your assumptions on him could be wrong but he needs to be more proactive now that the team is thin on experience.
Sandakan was shocking. Serving up full tosses every over and then having little control. He bowled seven wides. He is a T-20 player and has had decent success in the shortest format of the game. The problem is that our selectors expect him to succeed in the 50 over format as well having seen his success in T-20s. That’s recipe for disaster. Sandakan has to spend a considerable amount of time with Piyal Wijetunga on his accuracy. Such a shame that someone who made his debut five years ago is struggling for accuracy and bowling like a schoolboy.
Many are faulting Dasun for bowling Sandakan’s full quota. It looks that Dasun was playing it safe. Nobody is going to blame him because he had backed his specialist bowler. It is however a blessing in disguise that this happened. Now Sandakan has nowhere to hide in the ODI format and needs to improve considerably if he is to make a comeback. Less said about his fielding the better.
There is also Bhanuka Rajapaksa, all talk and no show. He is another T-20 player who has been played in the wrong format. When the selectors kept half a dozen seniors out of the side, they said that they wanted more energy on the field. Well, look whom they have filled the side with. Apart from Bhanuka and Sandakan, there are other sloppy fielders like Avishka Fernando, Kasun Rajitha and Charith Asalanka. Rajitha was a disgrace and he alone gave away some 15 runs in the second ODI. Such a shame that all these players are young and they have not put in the hard yards on a discipline that Sri Lankans have been neglecting for quite a long time now.
Trevor Bayliss when he was Head Coach of Sri Lanka made training the day before the game optional. Some senior with 100 Test caps to their names skipped training. But some seniors like Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan didn’t like it and trained. They were obsessed with training. The practice has been continued. Today, a Minod Bhanuka who had just walked into the side when it is announced that training is optional, skips training.
So is Bhanuka Rajapaksa. So is Charith Asalanka, whom they have identified as a future leader. That basically sums up our cricket. Players with huge egos. To put it in other words, small minds in big places.
Sri Lanka survived an early onslaught to qualify for the 2026 T20 World Cup Super Eights, leaving Australia right at the exit door and hoping for a miracle.
The returning captain Mitchell Marsh and the returning-to-runs Travis Head were brutal in taking Australia to 104 in the first 50 legal deliveries, but some spectacular fielding and spin bowling helped Sri Lanka take 10 for 77 off the last 70 balls.
In front of a partying full house in Pallekele, Sri Lanka’s two most prolific batters, Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis, brought out both the axe and paper cuts to slice through the chase. Nissanka, who had earlier dropped Glenn Maxwell and then dismissed him with a stunner, went on to score an unbeaten hundred and take Sri Lanka home with two overs to spare.
In the absence of Matheesha Pathirana, who walked off with a calf injury in his first over, their spinners contributed six wickets to go with excellent closing from Dushmantha Chameera. Australia’s lead spinner Adam Zampa, among the best T20 spinners of all time, took no wicket and was lucky to go for only 41 in his four overs.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 184/2 in 18 overs [Pathum Nissanka 100*, Kusal Mendis 51, Pavan Rathnayake 2*; Marcus Stoinis 2-41] beat Australia 181/10 in 20 overs [Mitchell Marsh 54, Travis Head 56, Josh Inglis 27, Glenn Maxwell 22; Dushmantha Chameera 2-56, Maheesh Theekshana 1-37, Dushan Hemantha 3-37, Dunith Wellalage 1-33, Kamindu Mendis 1-19] by eight wickets
[Cricinfo]
A win against Canada in their first T20I against them on Tuesday will firm up New Zealand’s spot in the Super Eight. This result will also knock out Canada; South Africa have already qualified for the next round from Group D with three wins in as many games.
New Zealand have faced Canada just three times in international cricket so far – each time in ODI World Cups. Their most recent meeting coming in the 2011 edition in Mumbai. They have won all three games and are poised to make it 4-0 against Canada in World Cups, despite the absence of Lockie Ferguson. The fast bowler has returned home for the birth of his first child and is expected to link up with the side ahead of the Super Eight. In Ferguson’s absence, Kyle Jamieson, who wasn’t even in the main squad in the first place, is set to make his T20 World Cup bow.
As for Canada, they had their moments against South Africa and UAE but they have failed to convert those into wins. On Friday in Delhi, they had UAE at 66 for 4 in the 13th over in a chase of 151, but they left the door ajar for Aryansh Sharma and Sohaib Khan to sneak home. Canada can’t afford such slip-ups against New Zealand – and then Afghanistan – if they are to notch up a win in this World Cup.
Kyle Jamieson doesn’t quite have Ferguson’s express pace, but can bang it away on a hard length and stifle the opposition batters. He also has some slower variations in his repertoire and his high-arm release could pose a big threat, especially to batters who are facing him for the first time.
Once known as “Vettori” in Canada’s club cricket circuit, Saad Bin Zafar will run into the team that was once captained by one of his heroes. The Canada left-arm spinner often attacks the stumps and keeps it tight, as his economy rate of 6.02 across 67 T20Is suggests. At 39, Saad knows he won’t be playing the game for long and will be eager to cause a few upsets on the big stage.
Jamieson is set to slot in for Ferguson unless New Zealand want to give veteran legspinner Ish Sodhi a game.
New Zealand (probable): Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (capt), Jimmy Neesham, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy
Canada are likely to play the same XI that lost to South Africa and UAE.
Canada (probable): Dilpreet Bajwa (capt), Yuvraj Samra, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva (wk), Harsh Thaker, Saad Bin Zafar, Jaskaran Singh, Dilon Heyliger, Kaleem Sana, Ansh Patel
[Cricinfo]
Sri Lanka fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana left the field four balls into his first over, after collapsing to the ground clutching his left calf, and did not return to the field during Sri Lanka’s bowling innings against Australia. Having briefly received treatment from the Sri Lanka physiotherapist immediately after sustaining the injury, Pathirana hobbled off the field with assistance from support staff.
He then spent the majority of the innings being treated in the dressing room. Sri Lanka will likely send him off for scans as soon as the match finishes.
“Matheesha Pathirana experienced discomfort in his left leg calf while bowling during the match and was unable to continue,” a statement read. “He will not bowl further in this game. A scan will be conducted tomorrow to determine the extent of the injury.”
Pathirana had begun well against Australia, bowling two dot balls and giving away three runs (including a wide) in those first four deliveries. The last two balls of the over were delivered by Dasun Shanaka, who gave away a four and bowled a dot.
Pathirana is the quickest bowler in Sri Lanka’s attack, and a key part of their death-bowling plans for the tournament in particular. He is also the second Sri Lanka bowler to come under an injury cloud, with Wanindu Hasaranga already having been ruled out of the World Cup with a hamstring injury of his own.
After this game against Australa, Sri Lanka have another group match to play, against Zimbabwe. They have not earned qualification for the Super Eights yet.
(Cricinfo)
Nissanka ton stuns Australia, puts Sri Lanka in Super Eights
New Zealand eye Super Eight spot against Canada
Pathirana under injury cloud as he leaves the field early
Raza: Win over Australia ‘will count for nothing if we slip up now’
Kusal Perera in as Sri Lanka bowl; Marsh returns for Australia
Jacks the star as England qualify for Super Eights with nervy win
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