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Chief Selector and Selector on tour Upul Tharanga, Cricket Consultant Sanath Jayasuriya and Kusal Mendis all point towards the same direction – home, where Sri Lanka looks headed after losing their first two matches of the T20 World Cup
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Sri Lanka may have gotten the better of Bangladesh in the recently played three-match T20I series in Bangladesh (2-1), but that joy was short lived when the two sides met in the T20 World Cup in Dallas on Saturday.
For Bangladesh, it was their Group D opener, but for Sri Lanka it was a must-win situation because they had lost their first match to South Africa.
As it turned out, Bangladesh had the last laugh when they pulled off a close two-wicket win to begin their T20 World Cup campaign on a winning note.As for Sri Lanka, with two losses from two games and with only two games in hand against Nepal and the Netherlands, they are on the brink of bowing out of the World Cup.
Seven months ago it was Bangladesh who ended Sri Lanka’s chances of qualifying for a place in the 50-over Cricket World Cup when they beat us by three wickets. Now here again they have proved to be our nemesis, virtually depriving us of a place in the T20 World Cup Super Eights.
The situation Sri Lanka are placed in their only chance of qualifying for the Super Eights is for Bangladesh to lose two of their remaining three matches which are against South Africa (10 June), the Netherlands (13 June) and Nepal (17 June). At the same time Sri Lanka must win their two remaining fixtures against Nepal (12 June) and the Netherlands (17 June). In that scenario both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and possibly the Netherlands will each finish on four points with the net run rate coming into play. It’s a long shot and one that may not work out in Sri Lanka’s favour.
Like we pointed out before the commencement of the T20 World Cup (Daily FT 1 June), it is Sri Lanka’s inconsistency in their batting that would work against them despite possessing a match winning bowling unit. So far in the two matches Sri Lanka has played and lost, the batting has proven to be their Achilles heel. Totals of 77 and 124 are not going to win you matches on a world stage.
In both games, despite being dismissed for low totals, Sri Lanka has fought back strongly with their bowling unit to make the result a tight contest. South Africa struggled for 16.2 overs and lost four wickets getting to their target of 78, and Bangladesh lost eight wickets and won in the penultimate over chasing 125, which once again emphasises that if only Sri Lanka had put sufficient runs on the board, they had the bowling to win matches. Also, they would not have been placed in this predicament as they are right now. The quality of the batting is so poor that compared to teams like Afghanistan and even the USA, Sri Lanka sadly fall short.
A Sri Lanka campaign that could have been an email
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