Sports
Old problems resurface for Sri Lanka in World Cup warm-up
by Rex Clementine
Sri Lanka suffered a heavy seven wicket loss to Bangladesh in their first World Cup warm-up game in Guwahati on Friday and have an opportunity to address some of the issues when they take on Afghanistan in another warm-up game at the same venue on Tuesday.
The former champions failed to utilize the full quota of 50 overs, a problem that they have encountered for quite some time now. Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne had been drafted into the ODI outfit in a bid to bat through the innings, but during the warm-up game, he was batting in the lower middle order instead of opening.
Sri Lanka’s preferred choice to open batting was Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka and maybe that’s the combination they are going to stick with during the tournament.
KJP had got off to a flying start making 34 off 24 balls but had to retire hurt with a right shoulder injury. The injury is not thought to be serious, but the player has been out of cricket for a considerable time in the last two years due to injuries.
Sri Lanka are already without key bowlers Dusmantha Chameera and Wanindu Hasaranga, both of whom are injured.Maheesh Theekshana, who is recovering from a hamstring injury is expected to travel to India on the 4th of October lead up to Sri Lanka’s opening fixture of the tournament against South Africa in Delhi.
Captain Dasun Shanaka again failed to fire having been dismissed for three runs off 17 balls. Sri Lanka have resisted moves to sack the captain just before the World Cup but if his wretched run continues the selectors will be left with Hobson’s choice.
Bangladesh chased down the target of 264 with eight overs to spare. The manner in which the run chase was achieved is further indication that conditions will be batting friendly in India during World Cup and unless teams post scores of 300 plus, they are going to struggle.
Sri Lanka will play two games each in Delhi, Bangalore and Lucknow while they also have got games at Hyderabad, Pune and Bombay.
The 13th edition of the World Cup gets underway on Thursday with a game between 2019 finalists England and New Zealand in Ahmedabad.
Since reaching the finals in 2011, the Sri Lankan team has failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the sport’s showpiece event. They were losing quarter-finalists in 2015 and were knocked out in the opening round in 2019.
A Sri Lankan innings that never really got going eventually parked itself at middling total of 219, as they were bowled out in 49.3 overs in the second ODI in Colombo. It’s a total England will fancy themselves to chase down as they look to level this three-match series.
Sri Lanka’s innings was headlined by Charith Asalanka’s 45 off 64 and Dhananjaya de Silva’s 40 off 59, but at strike rates of 67.79 and 70.31 it tells you all you need to know about how well England kept a lid on the innings.
For the visitors the wickets were spread out, with Adil Rashid, Jamie Overton and Joe Root picking up two apiece, the latter with the final two balls of the innings. There were also wickets for Liam Dawson, Rehan Ahmed and the returning Will Jacks.
And much like in the first ODI, England’s varied attack – no less than eight options were used across the innings – sought to give little away. “Keeping the stumps in play,” was Harry Brook’s refrain, speaking after losing the toss, and on an uber-dry surface with boundaries square and behind mostly protected, the onus was on the Lankan batters to use their feet in order to access the boundaries at extra cover and deep midwicket.
That sort of strokeplay however proved detrimental to the Lankan cause with four of their top five falling in their attempts to access the boundaries in front of square. Kamil Mishara sought to bring some impetus to the innings after a miserly early burst from the England seamers, but his attempted lashing cover drive could not clear Ben Duckett in the circle, who held on at the second attempt.
Pathum Nissanka, who had patiently waded through the opening powerplay when the scoring rate sat below four an over, then sought to capitalise on his added time in the middle, but only managed to loft an inside-out drive to long-off.
Later on in the innings Dhananjaya whacked one low to Root at midwicket, before the set Asalanka found deep midwicket with a slog sweep.
And arguably Sri Lanka’s best batter at accessing those regions, Kusal Mendis, ran himself out for a ground-out 26, when he cut one straight to point and absentmindedly set off for the single. The throw from the fit-again Jacks was pinpoint and found Mendis easily short as he sought in vain to fling himself back to safety.
There were promising stands between, notably a 42-run effort between Nissanka and Mendis and 66 between Dhananjaya and Asalanka, but none of the batters involved were able to push on and up the rate of scoring over any concerted period of time.
Pavan Rathnayake’s 29 off 34 had also shown promise, but he fell foul looking to clear the straight boundary as he sliced one to long-off, and in the process silenced an energetic Khettarama crowd.
The frustrating nature of Sri Lanka’s innings was illustrated by the fact that five batters scored at least 25 and faced at least 30 deliveries, but the highest score remained Asalanka’s 45.
England, to their credit, stuck to and executed their plans well. The use of eight bowlers – six of them spinners – meant Sri Lanka’s batters were ever really able to get a measure of any one bowler. And while the lengths were consistent, the pace of the deliveries was varied. It meant that even when a set batter such as Nissanka sought to take on the attack, Rashid was able to successfully deceive him in the flight.
Dunith Wellalage once more looked enterprising during a late cameo, but despite finding two boundaries in his brief stay, his 20 off 19 was far less damaging to England’s cause than had been in the first ODI.
England bowled 40.3 overs of spin across their innings, breaking their previous record of 36. That came in Sharjah in 1984-85, when Norman Gifford captained England at the age of 44, and took four wickets. The team wore black armbands during the first ODI after his death last week.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 219 in 49.3 overs (Charith Asalanka 45, Dhananjaya De Silva 40; Joe Root 2-12, Jamie Overton 2-21, Adil Rashid 2-34) vs England
(Cricinfo)
(Cricbuzz)
Sri Lanka elected to bat first in the second ODI against England at the R Premadasa International Stadium
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage, Pavan Rathnayake, Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando
England: Rehan Ahmed, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, 4Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (capt), Jos Buttler (wk), Will Jacks, Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid
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