Sports
Sri Lanka’s World Cup campaign goes from bad to worse
Rex Clementine in Bombay
Sri Lankas’s World Cup campaign in India is going from bad to worse as the team suffered a humiliating 302 run defeat at the hands of the hosts in Bombay yesterday.Already knocked out of the semi-final stages of the sport’s showpiece event, Sri Lanka’s next big hope was to ensure that they finished among top eight to qualify for the Champions Trophy to be hosted by Pakistan in 2025. However, yesterday’s performance brought more doom for the former champions who have left two more games in their campaign.
Even in the 1970s, before the nation had gained full status of the ICC, Sri Lankan teams hadn’t fared so badly in World Cups against formidable teams like Clive Lloyd’s West Indies and Ian Chappell’s Australians.
Sri Lanka are no more a team that has been rebuilding. The current set of players, selectors and most of the coaching staff have been in charge for three years now and poor planning has brought Sri Lankan cricket to its knees and in fact a laughingstock in world cricket.
Unwillingness of individuals within the team set up to work collectively but remain loyal to friends and their club has spelt disaster. The Sri Lankan set up is hard to differentiate from the set up at SSC with all leading roles being handed to the Maitland Place club and unless a cleanup job takes place soon, we are in for further embarrassment.
SLC need to start by sacking the selectors. In this selection committee, we have seen the worst selection panel since the country gained Test status. As for Consultant Coach Mahela Jayawardene, the board should say thank you, give him a golden handshake by paying his remaining contract and send him back to Bombay where he can remain loyal to his SSC friends.
MJ was a great player. Outstanding captain (probably our best) but not someone to whom you can entrust your entire cricket set up be it picking coaches, selectors or restructuring domestic cricket for he is a bad team player. He strongly believes in his own opinions and takes others’ with a pinch of salt and that’s not how a successful organization works. In a country of the blind the one-eyed man is a king.
Dinara de Silva secured a place in the singles semi-final and also booked a spot in the doubles final at the ITF Junior Circuit J30 Week 1 tournament continued at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts on Friday.
Dinara de Silva overcame a first set defeat to beat Gwen Emily Kurniawan of Indonesia 2-1 (4-6, 6-0, 6-1) in the quarter-final.
Dinara is set to meet Shivali Gurung of Nepal in the semi-final.
In the doubles semi-final Dinara joined China’s Yijia Zhao to beat Japan’s Sakino Miyazawa and Eyuyo Shida 6-4, 4-6, 10-5.
Debutant Malki Madara’s three-for combined with two-fors from Kavisha Dilhari and Inoshi Priyadharshani set up a comfortable victory for Sri Lanka in the T20I series opener in Christchurch. Chamari Athapaththu’s unbeaten 64 off 48 balls then took the visitors home with seven wickets in hand. This was Sri Lanka’s first T20I win in New Zealand and second win overall against New Zealand in the format.
Emma McLeod (44) was New Zealand’s highest scorer but only two of her team-mates got into double figures, and there was only one partnership that stretched past 20 balls.
Despite Priyadharshani dismissing Georgia Plimmer early, the hosts got off to a decent start thanks to captain Suzie Bates’ 14-ball 21. Madara, Sri Lanka’s fourth bowling option, brought on in the fifth over, got the big wicket of Bates which dried up the scoring. The next two overs went for just five runs.
Dilhari, the seventh bowler, struck twice upon being introduced in the ninth over as New Zealand slipped from 39 for 1 to 52 for 4. Maddy Green being run out cheaply had New Zealand play with caution as illustrated by the next two partnerships which produced a combined 29 runs off 41 balls.
McLeod, who had three fours in her first five balls, finished without adding to that tally across her 46-ball innings. She was the last New Zealand batter to fall as Madara ended the innings in the penultimate over.
Athapaththu then hit seven fours and took Sri Lanka to 46 for 0 at the end of the powerplay. Jess Kerr removed Vishmi Gunaratne and Harshitha Samarawickrama in successive overs while Dilhari’s innings was cut short by a run out. Sri Lanka slipped to 66 for 3 but that didn’t stop their captain from attacking.
She hit Eden Carson for four immediately after Dilhari’s exit and smacked two sixes and a four off Bree Illing, the first of the sixes brought up her fifty off 43 balls. It left the hosts no room to make an unlikely comeback as Sri Lanka romped to a victory with 35 balls to spare.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Women
102 for 3 in 14.1 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 64*, Kavisha Dilhari 12, Nilakshika Silva 12*; Jess Kerr 2-18) beat New Zealand 101 in 18.5 overs (Suzie Bates 21, Emma McLeod 44, Jess Kerr 10; Sugandika Kumari 1-18, Malki Madara 3-14, Kavisha Dilhari 2-18, Inoshi Priyadharshani 2-25, Chamari Athapaththu 1-10) by seven wickets
(Cricinfo)
Debutant Malki Madara’s three-for combined with two-fors from Kavisha Dilhari and Inoshi Priyadharshani set up a comfortable victory for Sri Lanka in the T20I series opener in Christchurch. Chamari Athapaththu’s unbeaten 64 off 48 balls then took the visitors home with seven wickets in hand. This was Sri Lanka’s first T20I win in New Zealand and second win overall against New Zealand in the format.
Emma McLeod (44) was New Zealand’s highest scorer but only two of her team-mates got into double figures, and there was only one partnership that stretched past 20 balls.
Despite Priyadharshani dismissing Georgia Plimmer early, the hosts got off to a decent start thanks to captain Suzie Bates’ 14-ball 21. Madara, Sri Lanka’s fourth bowling option, brought on in the fifth over, got the big wicket of Bates which dried up the scoring. The next two overs went for just five runs.
Dilhari, the seventh bowler, struck twice upon being introduced in the ninth over as New Zealand slipped from 39 for 1 to 52 for 4. Maddy Green being run out cheaply had New Zealand play with caution as illustrated by the next two partnerships which produced a combined 29 runs off 41 balls.
McLeod, who had three fours in her first five balls, finished without adding to that tally across her 46-ball innings. She was the last New Zealand batter to fall as Madara ended the innings in the penultimate over.
Athapaththu then hit seven fours and took Sri Lanka to 46 for 0 at the end of the powerplay. Jess Kerr removed Vishmi Gunaratne and Harshitha Samarawickrama in successive overs while Dilhari’s innings was cut short by a run out. Sri Lanka slipped to 66 for 3 but that didn’t stop their captain from attacking.
She hit Eden Carson for four immediately after Dilhari’s exit and smacked two sixes and a four off Bree Illing, the first of the sixes brought up her fifty off 43 balls. It left the hosts no room to make an unlikely comeback as Sri Lanka romped to a victory with 35 balls to spare.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Women 102 for 3 in 14.1 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 64*, Kavisha Dilhari 12, Nilakshika Silva 12*; Jess Kerr 2-18) beat New Zealand Women 101 in 18.5 overs (Suzie Bates 21, Emma McLeod 44, Jess Kerr 10; Sugandika Kumari 1-18, Malki Madara 3-14, Kavisha Dilhari 2-18, Inoshi Priyadharshani 2-25, Chamari Athapaththu 1-10) by seven wickets
[Cricinfo]
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