This year, despite the flop in the World Cup, you can say that Sri Lanka have made significant strides in limited-overs cricket. But it was all back to square one when world champions India whitewashed them 3-0 in the T-20 Internationals at Pallekele.
It was painful to watch as Sri Lanka snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Inability to handle pressure, lack of cricket smartness were all highlighted during the T-20 defeat. The emergence of Dunith Wellalage as someone who could tackle pressure in tough situations augurs well moving forward.
India’s ODI outfit was dreaded even more than the champion T-20 side. Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and Rohit Sharma were all back in the side and this was a challenging series. Fans had lost interest as well and RPS witnessed one of the lowest turnouts. But how well Wellalage turned the game on its head. He may have won the fans back with his all-round skills.
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At 101 for five in the 27th over, Sri Lanka were staring down the barrel. But Wellalage found a way to score runs. The good thing about his knock was that he was positive and was always looking to score runs without getting bogged down. His excellent running between the wickets put pressure on the fielders.
Sri Lanka could have finished with more than 230 if Janith Liyanage had exhibited a bit more cricket smartness. He did a Brian Lara by walking when Joe Wilson was not sure. A review would have saved him. To add insult to injury, Sri Lanka had reviews in their bag. This has been part of Sri Lanka’s problem. Lack of game awareness has been a huge problem among the young players.
Not with Dunith Wellalage though. He is matured and for a 21-year-old reads situations so well. The partnerships that he stitched with the tail proved to be crucial. Wellalage should be a regular in the ODI outfit. How he hasn’t debuted for the T-20 side is a mystery indeed. The sooner he is drafted into the T-20 side the better it is.
Often Sri Lanka have been bowled out without utilizing their quota of 50 overs in recent years. This looked heading the same direction and thanks to Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga and Akila Dananjaya they batted out the 50 overs and reached 230 with Wellalage posting a career best 67, his first half-century in ODI cricket.
A notable feature during the game was that captain Charith Asalanka looked uncomfortable against wrist spin but Wellalage seemed to tackle Kuldeep Yadav well. There was a period of rebuilding and then he cashed in during death overs to give the bowlers something to defend.
Wellalage richly deserved Man of the Match award for his efforts. Apart from the runs, he claimed two wickets including the big one of Rohit Sharma.
Batting has been Sri Lanka’s problem and you get the feeling that they are one genuine batsman short. If they are able to draft in Kamindu Mendis to the side while not upsetting the top five batters, the team looks a lot more balanced. You felt that during the T-20s that number six was too early for Dasun Shanaka and you feel the same about Janith Liyanage during the ODIs.
Wanindu Hasaranga has received lot of flack over the last couple of weeks but the manner in which he turned up at RPS was a treat to watch. He showed intent with the bat and was electric on the field and obviously finished with three wickets.
The fact that Charith Asalanka has been doing a bit of bowling in the nets also came in handy and the three wickets he produced including two in two balls to tie the game were immensely valuable.
Time was when among the top five of the batting line-up there were some four bowling options. That helped to balance the side. The current team has very little bowling options and it is good that Charith has taken his bowling seriously.
Sri Lanka have been involved in a few ties before but this was the first time a game was tied in Sri Lankan soil. It seems that when the scores were levelled we should have gone for a Super Over but the umpires blundered having not followed the updated playing conditions.
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Apparently in the Playing Conditions that were updated in December 2023, tied games now are allowed to go in for multiple super overs until a result is arrived at.
It’s a pity that highly paid umpires were not aware of the change to playing conditions. They are expected to be well versed in these matters but now that they have missed the point and will pay a price. How big is it remains to be seen.
