Arthur impressed with seamers

By Champika Fernndo in Abu Dhabi

Sri Lanka scripted a comfortable win over Namibia on Monday to get one step closer to qualifying for the main draw, but questions still hang over top-order batting as they face their toughest opposition in Group A, Ireland, this evening.

 A near-perfect combined bowling effort restricted Namibia to a below-par total but a subsequent top order wobble saw Sri Lanka in a spot of bother at 26 for 3 in the sixth over of the match, chasing 97, before Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Avishka Fernando shared an unfinished 74 for the fourth wicket to see them clear the first hurdle.

Openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera both fell cheaply, while No.3 Dinesh Chandimal was dismissed for five. However, Sri Lanka will expect the top order to take more responsibility in the next two games as they look to strengthen their hold in the qualifying group.

Chandimal, a veteran of 60 internationals and one of the two remaining from the 2014 World Cup-winning team, has been a pale shadow of himself, struggling to establish his position in the team since his return to the side against South Africa.

Head coach Mickey Arthur confirmed Sri Lanka will go unchanged for the Irish game, with Chandimal being told to perform or perish in that crucial batting position.

“He a fine batsman. He is bit low on confidence at the moment but I am comfortable he will regain that,” said Arthur at the pre-match press conference last evening. “He played at the pre-practice game before we came here and faced a good attack comprising Chamika Karunaratne, Akila Dananjaya and Maheesh Theekshana and got 84 off 48 balls.  He played really well. This is why we thought we could have him as the reserve wicket keeper.

“He played some superb cricket shots. He hit them well and hit them hard. He cleared the boundaries straight lot of the time. If we can recreate that confidence for him coming into World Cup games, we feel we got a win. We haven’t got a particularly experience top five. The thing that gets him there is his experience. We will give Chandi another run without a doubt. We know Charith Asalanka is waiting for another opportunity as well. I am comfortable that Chandi is one innings away from showing what he can do,” Arthur explained their reasons for retaining Chandimal despite the bad form.

Apart from Chandimal, the openers have not fired for Sri Lanka yet, but Arthur concedes, they would go with Kusal Janith and Pathum Nissanka combination.

“I’m pretty confident with Kusal Janith back in the order now. That gives us that attacking option. He is a world class player. So having him back there gives us a lot more solidarity. I’m comfortable he is going to fire for us soon,” he added. “Pathum Nissanka is a work in progress. I have said this before numerous times, that he is going to go on and genuinely become world class player for Sri Lanka so will keep going with Pathum because we have invested in him”.

What was more impressive was the bowling performance of the squad against Namibia.  While it was always expected that the spinners will dominate proceedings on a two-faced wicket, the performances of the pace trio were fascinating as they generated some serious speed, making life hard for the batters.

In their combined 11.3 overs, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara and Chamika Karunaratne gave away only 45 runs, an indication of the control and consistency with which they performed in the match.

Arthur was massively impressed by the improvement shown by the seamers over the last couple of months with Chameera and Kumara regularly generating express pace.

“For us to have genuine quality bowlers, bowling at over 140km an hour makes a massive difference,” he said of Chameera and Kumara. “We know that any team doesn’t like facing them. They are genuine wicket takers. Their skills got better and better over the last five months. So we are really comfortable having them in the side.

“Dushamntha Chameera, I feel has gone to another level. He is now genuinely world class. So for us to have those bowlers in the bowling line up, gives a real balance of pace. Chamika brings a little bit of swing and then we got our two wrist spinners. It's almost the ideal for our bowling attack.

If Sri Lanka can fix the missing pieces of the batting order, their qualification could only be a matter of formality with a strong bowling unit to support.

Ireland will come into the game oozing with confidence following their crushing seven wicket win over Netherlands. Their victory was engineered by 22-year-old fast bowler Curtis Campher who did a Lasith Malinga by taking four wickets off four consecutive balls to restrict their opposition to a below-par total of 106.

Their coach is Graham Ford, who served two stints with Sri Lanka cricket before joining the Irish team.

“Sri Lanka, probably about half the squad I know pretty well, and I know the coach very well. We know they're going to be a very competitive, energetic unit,” Ford said. “They have had great success in this format in previous years and in previous T20 World Cups, so it will be a huge game for us."

"They have some players that are able to do some unorthodox stuff that make a difference. The lads have got a lot of information on them, but at the end of the day, it is going to be about how we play on the day. We pitched up today and played with real positive energy and commitment, and if we bring that in again on Wednesday, we give ourselves a good chance”.

Teams

Ireland team from: Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Kevin O'Brien, Neil Rock, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young

 Sri Lanka XI: Dasun Shanaka (c), Kusal Janith Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal,  Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana,