Sri Lanka’s downward spiral continues unabated – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE (eLanka Sports editor)
Sri Lanka is continuing to prove they have no game plan for the one day format anymore as their batters struggle to cope with New Zealand’s bowlers in seaming conditions.
With the Cricket World Cup fast approaching, it is concerning if Sri Lanka will fail to qualify to the top tier for the first time in a long time having to get through the qualifiers with the lesser nations.
Winning in 1996 under Arjuna Ranatunge and making two finals thereafter, has made this country a mainstay in World Cup history and it would be sad indeed if they are unable to make it to the top.
Their downward spiral towards the cellar of the world game is disturbing and downright embarrassing to their fans and team management as they stumble from one defeat to another without recourse.
Sri Lanka’s coach Chris Silverwood must be at his wits end looking for a turnaround in the team’s fortunes while his predecessor Chandika Hathurusinghe is making giant strides in Bangladesh after a messy separation from Sri Lanka Cricket.
Game two showed slight improvement, albeit the inability to bat out their allotted overs once again, while accumulating a paltry target of 157 that the Kiwis overhauled with 105 ball to spare.
Mat Henry, Henry Shipley and Daryl Mitchell grabbed three wickets each and combined to bamboozle a clueless Sri Lanka batting line-up riddled with four ducks from mainly the top order.
There appears to be no sight of a contest at this stage which raises fears of the Lankans leaving Kiwi shores after one of their most disastrous tours in their cricketing history.
As expected, fans are calling for the captain’s head, but reality suggests that one man cannot deliver results single-handedly, while those around him continuously falter.
Dimuth Karunaratne in the Tests, made useful contributions in a losing effort, and Dasun Shanaka has done similarly in a hopeless situation.
If there was an argument in the latter’s case, it was his bad judgement which resulted in the untimely run out of Pathum Nissanka who was the only batter to take on the and master the Kiwi attack.
Nissanka was in full flight when he called for a single then changed his call but Shanaka continued running giving the former the tough decision of holding his ground or sacrificing himself. He didn’t get close to making his ground, run out for 64, the team’s top score.
There was no resistance from Sri Lanka’s batting thereafter apart from Shanaka, who made 31.
It is extremely concerning that they continue to flounder against genuine swing in New Zealand conditions. Technique and shot selection apart from mental preparation and planning in this format appears to be Sri Lanka’s bugbear.
Two series down and the T20’s to follow, holds out almost no hope of salvation. Sri Lanka has constantly chopped and changed their line-ups in a desperate search for a winning culture without success.
