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By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
The ICC World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe is not a place that a cricketing nation like Sri Lanka should be. But circumstances demanded that the 1996 World Cup champions and two-time runner-up in 2007 and 2011 go through a qualifying round and earn a place in the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India.
Thus, it was with more hope and anticipation that they went through the Qualifiers. To say the least the Qualifiers was a blessing in disguise for Sri Lanka to test their capabilities as a one-day side that has been over the years travelling on a rocky road not knowing where their next win was going to come from.
The Qualifiers showed that Sri Lanka was the best all-round or complete side in the tournament winning all their matches in the group stage and carrying that success into the Super Sixes where with wins over Scotland and Zimbabwe they brought their ticket to India for the next Cricket World Cup, with still a match left in the Super Sixes against the West Indies.
What the qualification means is that Sri Lanka will continue their run of featuring in every single World Cup since the men’s tournament started in 1975.
Since beating Afghanistan in the second ODI, Sri Lanka has had a successful run of eight consecutive wins – a rare phenomenon for an ODI side that has struggled to make ends meet since the gradual decline began in 2017. Sri Lanka’s most successful run in ODIs is 10 wins which they achieved twice – from 29 February to 23 July 2004 and from 27 December 2013 to 6 May 2014. Dasun Shanaka’s team has a chance of equalling that record if they can win the last two games in the World Cup Qualifiers against West Indies on 7 July and the final on 9 July.
The way things stand at the moment Sri Lanka are into the final of the Qualifiers and their opponents could be either Zimbabwe or Scotland depending on the outcome of their Super Six match tomorrow (4 July) at Bulawayo.
But more than qualifying to play in the final what was most important to Sri Lanka was their Super Six contest against Zimbabwe on Sunday which they had to win to ensure their place in the Cricket World Cup, rather than leave it till the last game against the West Indies. This, they achieved with authority thrashing the host country by nine wickets. The build up to this game was the Best Batting side in the Qualifiers which was Zimbabwe versus the Best Bowling side which was Sri Lanka.
Needless to say it has been Sri Lanka’s bowling unit that has carried them to the Cricket World Cup with the batting still not 100 percent steady. The batting has excelled only in patches and it has been the bowling that has bailed them out especially against associate sides Scotland and Netherlands. How good a bowling side that Sri Lanka is can be gauged by the fact that they are the only team in the Qualifiers to dismiss all their opponents thus far and for totals less than 200 – UAE for 180, Oman for 98, Netherlands for 192, Scotland for 163, the Netherlands for 192 and Zimbabwe for 165.
That Sri Lanka achieved all this without their main strike bowler Dushmantha Chameera is in itself an outstanding achievement. Much has been spoken and written about the role Chameera will have to play in Sri Lanka’s World Cup Qualifiers campaign. He was wrapped in cotton wool and not even allowed to play Test cricket. But unfortunately for him and for Sri Lanka, injuries seem to be following him everywhere. Lahiru Kumara whom Sri Lanka relied on to play Chameera’s role did it up to a certain point before he too became an injury victim which gave the opportunity for young and promising left-arm seamer Dilshan Madushanka to display his skills. Madushanka had the inform Zimbabwe batsmen on the hop with three cheap wickets in his opening spell that certainly pushed them onto the back foot – a position from which they never recovered.
According to the Cricket World Cup schedule announced by the ICC, “if Sri Lanka qualify they will be Q2 irrespective of where they finish in the Qualifiers”.
Now that the hard part is over and behind them Sri Lanka can start concentrating on planning out their strategies for the Cricket World Cup where the real test is, against the full member nations. Thus, corresponding to the World Cup schedule, Sri Lanka as Q2 their opponents in their opening fixture will be South Africa at Delhi on 7 October.
But prior to that Sri Lanka will have another task to try and defend the Asia Cup which they won last year in Dubai when it was held in the T20I format. This year’s Asia Cup which will be held from 31 August to 17 September will revert back to the 50-over format because of the Cricket World Cup. Pakistan are the hosts but the majority of the matches will be played in Sri Lanka. The Asia Cup will give a true indicator to how improved a side Sri Lanka is in the ODI format as they will be taking on the best countries in the region India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. If they can come through it unscathed, one can perhaps have aspirations of winning another Cricket World Cup.
Sri Lanka’s 2023 Cricket World Cup Fixtures
