Saturday Jan 04, 2025
Saturday Jan 04, 2025
Monday, 30 December 2024 01:47 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
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Matheesha Pathirana can be a match winner, as well as a match loser
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Shell-shocked Sri Lanka will have to gather all their resources and hit the ground hard in the second T20I at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui today if they are to save the three-match T20I series against New Zealand.
The value of a team is judged by how they react to a situation and come back. Sri Lanka face that challenge today after losing the first T20I, which they should have won hands down on Saturday, but chose to lose by 8 runs in an unbelievable batting collapse.
They were cruising at 121-0 in the 14th over, chasing 173, when things took a dramatic turn and they lost 8 wickets for 43 to finish on 164-8. They lost 3 wickets in the 14th over bowled by Jacob Duffy and simply could not recover from that setback. The new batters found it difficult to get a start and Sri Lanka kept losing wickets. It was pressure created by the New Zealand bowlers that led to Sri Lanka’s rather unbelievable implosion.
Apart from openers Pathum Nissanka (90) and Kusal Mendis (46), who were in sublime touch, the rest of the batters were all dismissed to single digit scores.
Sri Lanka’s win probability after 13.1 overs was 98.13%. That’s how good they were at winning.
“The openers batted really well, apart from that, including me, the rest of us have to take responsibility. Very disappointed about the result, we really should have done better,” was how Sri Lanka Captain Charith Asalanka explained the defeat.
“That is the beauty of this game, things can change quickly. We want to come back and do really well in the next game.”
Sri Lanka had better, if not, another T20I series will be lost in New Zealand.
New Zealand looked out of the contest for all the money on two occasions. First, when they were down 64-5 and second, when Sri Lanka were coasting at 121-0. On both occasions, the host came back in incredible fashion. A superb 105-run stand between Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell saw them recover to 172-8, and then, in incredible fashion, they busted Sri Lanka’s batting bank wide open following the Duffy over.
On the bowling and fielding front also, Sri Lanka needs to step in, like their batting. Crucial catches were missed and the bowlers simply could not maintain the pressure on New Zealand after having them struggling at 65-5 at the halfway stage of the match.
Matheesha Pathirana could be a match winner on his day, but he can also be a match loser for Sri Lanka. He leaked 40 runs in his four overs that included 3 wides, one of which was hit for a six. It was Sri Lanka’s losing margin in the end – the wides and the six.
