India men sweep aside Sri Lanka in another dominant series.
Bowlers give Sri Lanka a glimmer of hope in dead rubber but arouses intringue as batters squander the opportunity once again.
BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE. (eLanka Sports Editor)
It was a story of stark contrasts as Sri Lanka’s men were thrashed 3-0 by a less than full strength India in their T20 series, while Sri Lanka’s women basked in the glory of an Asia Cup triumph over the highly fancied Indians.
In a questionable rushed series, India were untroubled against a lacklustre Sri Lanka team that seem to have no answer to their tormentors as they continue to go down meekly when they meet.
If the plan was to lose, then they have been consistent, but changes at the top in administrative and coaching departments have shown nothing to reverse their substandard performances over the recent past.
If there was a glimmer of hope for saving them some blushes, Sri Lanka’s bowlers gave them an opportunity to win the dead rubber third game. But the now established trend of a middle and lower order debacle appears permanent and without forseeable redress.
Set a gettable target of 138 for victory, Sri Lanka’s openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis continued the familiar trend of making a dash for it. But their departure made way for the now expected domino effect as they crumbled to a tie.
They lost 6 wickets for 20 in a disappointing effort and then were outplayed in the ‘Super over’ to concede a series sweep.
Sri Lanka made 2 for 2 in the Super over with two ducks to Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera. Indian skipper Suriyakumar Yadav smashed a four of Maheesh Theekshana’ s first delivery to take the game.
What has been perplexing with Sri Lanka’s performance against India in their past five or six outings has been the questionable batting collapse in the middle and lower order that has raised eyebrows and is surrounded about its consistency and intrigue about no foreseeable remedial action.
They lost nine wickets for 31 in the first game thrashing, and six for 31 in the second match before this, in a familiar graphic trend .
Charith Asalanka won the toss and put India in and it seemed like a great decision when Sri Lanka’s bowlers had India in all sorts of bother at 48 for 5 in 8.4 overs.
But unlike Sri Lanka, India’s middle order made a recovery of sorts to take them to 137 for 9 in 20 overs.
Maheesh Theekshana regained some lost penetration grabbing 3 for 28 in his 4 overs and Wanindu Hasarsnga took 2 for 29 to curb the run hungry Indian batting.
Sri Lanka in reply, got off to a great start as usual breezing to 117 for 2 before the procession started and were strangled to 137 for 8 by the Indians and the eventual loss.
Nissanka, 26 off 27 balls, Kusal Mendis 43 off 41 balls and Kusal Perera 46 off 34 balls led the rise before the fall. None of the others made double figures in their pathetic pursuit.
Onwards to the one-dayers, and Sri Lanka’s fans have shut the door to lofty expectations of the dour qualities of their women counterparts.
An expected thrashing in that series is on the cards unless the weight of expectation from a cricket mad nation sees a miraculous turnaround. Obviously no one’s holding their breath at this stage.
What has been concerning from a Sri Lankan perspective is the sudden loss of form of newly appointed skipper Charith Asalanka who has hit a rough patch since he was elevated to the leadership role.
The free scoring left-hander may need some professional direction on how to balance leadership with his batting skills before everything goes pear shaped in his personal input to the team.
In a country that is well renowned for its mystique in its culture, composure and outlook, Sri Lanka cricket has embraced that expectation in its performances.
Contradictory as it sounds, when it’s least expected, they are capable of producing the unexpected.
