Sri Lanka Head Coach Chandika Hathurusingha is optimistic that if his team manages a good start against South Africa, they can very well beat the struggling Proteas on the 28th of June (Friday) when they play their 7th game of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at Emirates Riverside Stadium in Durham.
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According to Hathurusinghe, Sri Lanka experienced the coldest day of their tour on Tuesday during training. However, they will definitely hold the edge against South Africa after their surprise win over the hosts and world-number one-ranked ODI team, England, who they beat by 20 runs last Friday.
“That’s cricket. That’s the beauty of the game. How you start is the most important thing. When you put pressure on the opposition, anything can happen, whether you are the best-prepared team or the worst prepared team. England is the best-prepared team. They have prepared for this World Cup since they lost to Bangladesh four years ago.” Hathurusingha said regarding the 2019 Headingley ‘surprise’ by Sri Lanka.
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“We didn’t know our squad until very late. But, we played to our potential. Avishka [Fernando] played a blinder. Nobody knew him before. [Lasith] Malinga produced an excellent spell. Our bowling was spot on. We worked as a unit. I thought we were 30 runs short, but still, we were competitive and put them on pressure.”
South Africa have already booked their flight back home as they have no chance of qualifying for the semi-finals. Out of the seven games, they have only won 1, lost 5 and shared points in 1 game. With a couple of injuries causing serious issues to the Proteas campaign, they have failed to seize crucial moments in crunch games.
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As Sri Lanka start their preparation at Chester-Le-Street in Durham today (Monday), where they will be resided….
However, Sri Lanka still will need to be at the top of their game in order to take points off South Africa, who have plenty of match-winners in their ranks.
“We need to be focusing on the same thing as what we have been focusing throughout the campaign. Get a good start, whether you bat or bowl. We need to get into the game quickly and stay in the game. That’s what we were trying to do every game.” Former Sri Lanka opening batsman Hathurusingha mentioned.
“We have played South Africa recently and we know what their strengths and weaknesses are and vice-versa. What we need to do is to keep their impact players as much as possible away from the game. On the other hand, we need to get our big players to perform like it was the case in our last game (against England).”
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Sri Lanka’s bowling was on point against England, defending 233. But the inability to post 300+ in any of their games might be a concern in the Lankan camp. Players like Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne and Milinda Siriwardana, who were parachuted into the World Cup squad after being in the wilderness for several years, have failed to grab their opportunities.
“We don’t have much of a choice to pick from (for the number six spot). This is the best we can do. The good thing is for us is Dhananjaya [De Silva], who has been batting lower down the order has got us some runs for us. His partnership with Angelo [Mathews] was crucial. It is what we expect of him. We don’t have many options. That’s the best combination that we have in this squad.” Hathurusingha said on the under-firing lower middle-order.
However, after being 2 down for just 3 runs – the middle order stood up against England with ex-captain Angelo Mathews anchoring the innings with an unbeaten 85 on a slow surface in Headingley. Mathews had scores of 0,0, & 9 coming into the England game. Despite having his fair share of differences with Mathews in the past six months or so, Hathurusingha spoke highly of the 115-ball knock by Sri Lanka’s most experienced batsman.
“Angelo [Mathews] played a fine knock. Difficult innings, I would say. He was under pressure as he didn’t have many runs behind him in the competition. For him to focus and finish the game like that and for Lasith [Malinga] to bowl like that and get wickets, whenever he came onto bowl was crucial.” Hathurusingha said.
“Our top six guys have been amongst runs at some stage of the tournament. It’s a matter of now coming up with a team effort. Not all six guys are going to score runs. But at least six guys need to put up their hands and come up with meaningful contributions. “
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