Underperformers face challenge of whitewash
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While the Lankans thrive, the Indians look well relaxed - Pic by Amila Gamage
With Sri Lanka’s direct qualification to the 2019 Cricket World Cup high at stake, the beleaguered team will look to avoid the ignominy of a whitewash when the fifth and final ODI gets underway this afternoon at the R Premadasa Stadium.
Low in confidence and weakened by injuries, Sri Lanka may need an extraordinary effort to stop the marauding Indians who are eyeing their successive 5-0 win in a bilateral series against Sri Lanka. India beat Sri Lanka 5-0 in 2014 in India—the last bilateral series between the two neighbours.
After losing the Test series 3-0, all that was needed was a spirited effort to test the Indians in the limited-over leg but the hosts are yet to challenge the mighty Indians who have dominated the series, leaving no room for them to fight back.
The series lost means Sri Lanka now has to hope West Indies ‘underperformers’ in England in the five-match series and their on-off ODI against Ireland to secure a direct spot in the World Cup. They need to lose five out of six matches to allow Sri Lanka direct entry. Sri Lanka’s batting coach Avishka Gunawardena admitted, “It has gone beyond Sri Lanka’s control”.
“We have to make sure we try and win the match tomorrow,” he said. “That’s the only way we can turn it around. If I say the mood is really good, I’m lying. To be brutally honest, the confidence level is a bit down but, of course, the guys are trying their best. I must say their enthusiasm is still high. We are trying to hit certain targets and hopefully we will hit those targets.”
According Gunawardena, Sri Lanka’s dot-ball percentage is nearly 50 per cent of the overs. It needs to reduce by at least 10 to 15 per cent.
“This has been a big issue for us during the last few months,” he admitted. “We need to collect more singles and we also need at least one of the top five batsmen to bat at least till the 40th over.”
“If you look at the four ODIs we have played so far, out of the first six batsmen, almost everyone got the start but could not go on to get a big one,” he reflected. “So these are some of the small things we discussed. They are still young and they need to learn from their mistakes but they need to learn fast.”
With skipper Upul Tharanga making his way into the team, having missed the last two matches owing to his suspension for slow-overate, Dilshan Munaweera, who made his ODI debut, on Thursday is likely to sit out. Tharanga, who has committed the same offence twice this year, now faces an eight-month ban if his team makes the same mistake this year again.
The Indians, on the other hand, will fancy their chances for a series whitewash and may retain the same combination which played on Thursday, with the likes of Manish Pandey, Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur given a further opportunity to impress.
India from: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Ajinkya Rahane, Kedar Jadhav, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur.
Sri Lanka from: Upul Tharanga (capt), Lasith Malinga, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dilshan Munaweera, Lahiru Thirimanna, Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana, Malinda Pushpakumara, Akila Dananjaya, Lakshan Sandakan, Thisara Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Vishwa Fernando.