Demoralised Lankans looking for consolation
Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza celebrates victory in the first ODI cricket match against Sri Lanka at Galle - AFP
On Friday, Sri Lanka suffered one of their most embarrassing defeats in their opening game in a five-match ODI series against Zimbabwe in Galle. However, today’s second game provides an opportunity for Sri Lanka to right the wrongs.
The only hitch is, the team is badly equipped and demoralised. Their batting has clicked in recent times, but their bowling and fielding have been atrocious.
“Today we were very poor. We have to address it quickly as we have only one day and then we have to comeback and win on. One day of skill work won’t help you. We need to have a shift in mindset to stop runs and take those catches,” Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews said after the match.
The Friday’s defeat exemplifies the crux of the matter as they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, after putting on a formidable 315, batting first. Aided by sloppy fielding, Zimbabwean batsmen took the Sri Lankan bowlers to the cleaners as they chased down a record total to go 1-up in the series.
“I am lost for words,” Mathews said. “After getting 315 on the board, I thought we had enough on the board. It was turning a bit. We had the bowlers to defend it, but we didn’t bowl well. Poor performance by the bowlers and fielding once again let us down. We dropped crucial catches at crucial moments.
Man of the Match Solomon Mire (112) survived twice when he was dropped on 13 by wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella and on 94 by Lasith Malinga and Danushka Gunathilaka was guilty of letting Sean Williams off the hook on 13. The pair added a crucial 161 runs for the third wicket to lead Zimbabwean’ record run chase.
“We all know that catches win matches. Dropping crucial catches was the turning point today. Very disappointing and very disheartening the way we went about things. We were below par. We had enough resources to restrict them, but couldn’t,” he added.
Apart from dropped catches, Sri Lankan fielders also leaked runs with several on field slip ups, adding insult to injury.
Sri Lanka employed as many as seven bowlers but except for part-timer Asela Gunaratne, the frontline bowlers in Malinga, Nuwan Pradeep, Akila Dhananjaya and Amila Aponsu did not look intimidating. Given how poorly the bowlers executed their plans, Angelo Mathews may ponder some changes to bowling unit.
Lasith Malinga has been ruled out with a viral flu. Chinaman Lakshan Sandakan who has been permanently warming the bench in recent tours, likely to come back to the side along with Dushmantha Chameera.