Did England underestimate Sri Lanka?
Rex Clementine in Bangalore
In sports, if you do not give due respect to a team you end up paying a heavy price. That has happened time and again with firm favourites brought to their knees and underdogs having a field day. Ask the South Africans who rested Allan Donald from the quarter-final of 1996 World Cup against West Indies thinking it’s going to be a one-sided game. Then, Brian Lara decided to make amends for his early failures and scored a blistering hundred and Hansie Cronje’s side was out of the competition.
Is that what happened to England in Bangalore on Thursday? Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana certainly thought so when he turned up for the post-match media briefing where he claimed England had underestimated Sri Lanka.
England were not only defending champions, but they also had a better recent record between the teams and on paper were a far superior side.
England have been cocky lead up to this tournament. That’s been part of English psyche for a long period of time but when the most grounded cricketer in the England team, their captain Jos Buttler makes funny remarks you sense the writing is on the wall for the 2019 champions.
Buttler prior to the tournament had stated that he didn’t like the word ‘defending champions’. He said England were an attacking team. How well they have attacked we have seen in this competition. They have been sloppy. They have been garbage. All talk and no action.
In Ahmedabad, England lost the curtain-raiser to the 2019 finalists New Zealand by nine wickets. They had got their campaign back on track with a 137-run win over Bangladesh but were humbled by Afghanistan, who clinched a 69-run win in Delhi. South Africa inflicted a heavy 229 run loss in Bombay and their Net Run Rate suffered. Sri Lanka hit the final nails on the coffin in Bangalore with a comprehensive eight wicket win.
It was a clinical performance by the Sri Lankan attack to bowl out England for 156. Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes had a few lucky moments and if not they would have barely managed 100 runs. Bairstow was out in the first ball but Sri Lanka didn’t review a leg before wicket shout and then Stokes had a few lucky escapes.
Lahiru Kumara cut a sorry figure in Lucknow against Australia, but in Bangalore he had got his act together. Kumara is quite a handful as his pace can trouble the world’s best batters, but the problem has been with his control. When he gets his line and length right, he can be deadly as England found out as he ran through the middle order.
Kasun Rajitha is a very underrated bowler while Dilshan Madushanka was unlucky not to claim a wicket. The left-arm quickly moved the new ball and England were all at sea and they had some fortune going their way.
Kusal Mendis cleverly turned to Maheesh Theekshana every time a partnership was building and the spinner created that pressure not allowing England to rotate the strike.
The slide of course was started by Angelo Mathews, who broke the first wicket stand worth 45 runs in his first over and then that run out of Joe Root silenced his critics. How badly the team missed his experience in the earlier games of the tournament.
Now the selectors have been made to repent not picking him in the squad early, but they should be made to pay a price as well. People need to be held accountable and they can not simply get away with blunders.
With four consecutive fifties in the tournament, Pathum Nissanka has played the anchor role well. The team will be hoping that he converts his half-centuries into hundreds when they bat first.
Sadeera Samarawickrama is a treat to watch when in full flow. In Bangalore, the first ball he faced, he hit an exquisite cover drive off David Willey and that set the tone for the run chase even with Mark Wood sending down 150 kmph plus thunderbolts. This indeed was a special win.
There are four remaining games for Sri Lanka in this World Cup and if they win three of those, they are in with an outside chance to go through to the semis. They will be kicking themselves for letting Pakistan off the hook. A win in that game in Hyderabad would have seen them sitting pretty.
Let bygones be bygones. Let’s stop the blame game. Let’s come together as a nation and hope that we finish this campaign well. Even if we are not able to earn a semi-final slot, a fifth-place finish will be highly commendable.
