Playing the World Cup Qualifiers was bit of a scare. Firstly, when you play some of these unknown teams, you don’t know what exactly to expect and then when conditions are dodgy, it generally favours the underdogs, no matter how strong you are on paper. That is exactly what West Indies found out as the two-time champions were knocked out of the sport’s showpiece event with two games to spare.
Sri Lanka’s planning was pretty good. They played a strong Afghanistan side lead up to the Qualifiers and a come from behind win gave them much needed confidence.
The team’s bowling was so formidable that opponents rarely threatened to score 200 runs which made the batters breathe easy. In the end, Dasun Shanaka’s side booked a place in the World Cup in style with a game to spare. Their second-round match against the West Indies now will be a dead rubber.
Wanindu Hasaranga obviously caused nightmares to opponents who struggled to pick him. Maheesh Theekshana bowls such tight lines that batters can hardly free their arms against him and when they do, they need to be sure or else the ball will hit the timber of have you plumb in front.
Dilshan Madushanka was a late addition and how well he bowled in the pressure game against hosts Zimbabwe. His first spell produced three wickets and he should have had a fourth but Sean Williams, the tournament’s highest run getter, was put down.
Kasun Rajitha hardly did anything wrong always providing an early breakthrough and was unlucky to be left out during the tail-end of the campaign.
Dhananjaya de Silva is such a versatile cricketer and adds so much value bowling tidy off-spin.
Sri Lanka’s bowling was so clinical that they didn’t even require Dushmantha Chameera, whom many thought will be their key man during the campaign. His pace, accuracy and variation wasn’t even required to qualify for the World Cup as he headed home not able to recover from injury. To stamp your authority in a campaign without requiring the services of your best bowler was satisfying indeed.
What a superb comeback this has been for Dimuth Karunaratne. Every time he batted deep, Sri Lanka were in safe hands and every time he was dismissed early, they were feeling the pinch.
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In the game against Scotland, Dhananjaya’s de Silva’s 93 was worth in gold. Pathum Nissanka finished off the campaign in style scoring his second ODI hundred.
Although Sri Lanka qualified with an unbeaten record, there were a couple of scares against associate members Scotland and Netherlands. Batting had failed and bowlers bailed out the side on both occasions.
The biggest worry is the team’s batting depth. Old problems of not being able to utilize the full quota of 50 overs keep resurfacing when the anchor Karunaratne falls cheaply. That’s why the team will be better off with the experience of someone like Angelo Mathews. Or for that matter Dinesh Chandimal whose form in Test match cricket has been terrific. One of the two needs to be in the side.
Sri Lanka’s qualification for the sport’s showpiece event without much drama doesn’t mean that everything is tickety-boo.
It was a blunder by the selectors to pick just six batters for the campaign. They ended up picking two leg-spinners in early Bulawayo winter and one of them didn’t feature in a game. There were also two seam bowling all-rounders in the squad and one of them hasn’t got a game so far. Easily, the team could have added one more batter in case of injury or poor form.
The fact that Lahiru Kumara was replaced by a batter was an indication that they had got the squad selection wrong and were desperate to have cover in the batting department.
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You also wonder how come Madushanka, an injury replacement got a game ahead of Matheesha Pathirana. Madushanka’s omission from the initial squad was a blunder.
No doubt the team’s fielding has improved leaps and bounds but it is still not the finished article. Fielding is an area that they need to keep improving if they are to be a force in the competition.
Now that Sri Lanka are through to the World Cup, they should aim higher. With conditions in India ideally suited for their style of bowling, a semi-final berth is not far-fetched.
You’d be backing the team to beat teams like Afghanistan, Bangladesh and the Qualifier which could be Zimbabwe or Scotland.
India and Pakistan will be tough to beat and England seem to have got all bases covered. However, against teams like New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in sub-continent conditions, you would expect them to do well. A semi-final berth is not wishful thinking.
There is the Asia Cup prior to the World Cup and that should be good preparation. Authorities were contemplating to turn the two match Test series against Pakistan this month into an ODI series to help the team prepare for the World Cup, but the idea was shelved eventually.
However, if there is a slight window, there’s no harm in playing against a strong opponent – home or away – ahead of the World Cup as it will provide the team with good preparation.
