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ICC World Cup 2019 Preview: Sri Lanka enter the World Cup in total and utter disarray

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Abdullah719

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Thanks to [MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION] for the write-up.

To say that Sri Lanka enter the 2019 World Cup in total and utter disarray would be an understatement. When Chandika Hathurusingha took over as coach in December 2017, there was hope that the tough taskmaster could revitalize Sri Lanka’s fortunes as he did with Bangladesh. These hopes have been quickly dashed with Sri Lanka possessing an abysmal ODI record having since the 2017 Champions Trophy lost 33 of 44 ODIs and been whitewashed 5-0 by South Africa in their last series.


<img src="https://i.imgur.com/3upDpvh.png" width="700">​


No fewer than six “permanent” captains have been appointed since the 2015 World Cup with the latest man in the hotseat, Dimuth Karunaratne, having not a played a single ODI in that period and possessing a meagre average of 15 in the format at the time of the announcement. Whilst Karunaratne deserves immense credit for leading his side to their first ever Test series triumph in South Africa, there will be pressure to justify his place in the shorter format.

Off-the-field, Sri Lanka have been ridden by infighting, ceaseless political interference and damaging rows over selection between the coach and selectors. Hathurusingha was denounced as a “total dictator” and was sent home before the T20 leg of the recent South Africa tour with his selection powers removed. Hathurusingha, therefore, appears on borrowed time and unlikely to have his contract renewed by SLC post World Cup.

The World Cup squad reflects this turmoil with several experienced players chopped. Wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella has paid the price for a poor South Africa series despite being Sri Lanka’s leading run scorer since the Champions Trophy! The experienced Upul Tharanga faced the axe after a downturn of form over the last 12 months, but the selectors bafflingly dropped fellow opener Danushka Gunathilaka despite the latter averaging close to 50 in New Zealand. Former captain Dinesh Chandimal has also been overlooked.

The desperation of the selectors is underlined by recalls for Lahiru Thirimanne, who’s not played an ODI since 2017, and all-rounder Jeevan Mendis, who’s not played an ODI since 2015. Both performed well in the recent Super Four domestic 50-Over competition but are also tried and tested names in international cricket, reiterating the inadequacy of Sri Lanka’s system in producing new talent.

Sri Lanka’s spin stocks, traditionally their match-winning strength, has taken a huge blow with off-spinner and leading wicket-taker since the Champions Trophy, Akila Dananjaya, dropped having struggled with a remodelled action after being reported for an illegal bowling action last winter. That means Jeffrey Vandersay, will be Sri Lanka’s lead spinner. In the seam department, veteran Lasith Malinga fresh off from his success with Mumbai Indians in the IPL, will lead the attack along with experienced Suranga Lakmal.

Strengths:

Sri Lanka produced a memorable underdog performance in the South Africa Tests when nobody gave them a sniff. They must channel that spirit in England. Angelo Mathews was the top scorer in the domestic Super Four tournament and much depends on him if Sri Lanka are to reach competitive totals.

Weaknesses:

This is the weakest team Sri Lanka have taken to a World Cup since the 1980s with the side currently languishing 9th in the ICC’s ODI Team rankings. The batting looks flimsy, collectively averaging just 27 since the 2017 Champions Trophy – the worst of any World Cup team. Without Dananjaya it’s also difficult to see how Sri Lanka take wickets in the middle overs.

Players to watch:

21-year-old opener Avishka Fernando strikes at close to a run a ball in List A cricket and was the star of Sri Lanka’s 2016 Under-19 World Cup. Captain Dimuth Karunaratne enters the World Cup with a point to prove in 50 over cricket and in good form averaging over 50 in the Super Four tournament.

Prediction:

Unfortunately, given the current state of this side, I predict a 9th position and a group stage exit.


Full squad:

Dimuth Karunaratne (c)
Avishka Fernando
Lahiru Thirimanne
Kusal Perera
Kusal Mendis
Angelo Mathews
Dhananjaya de Silva
Jeffery Vandersay
Thisara Perera
Isuru Udana
Lasith Malinga
Suranga Lakmal
Nuwan Pradeep
Jeevan Mendis
Milinda Siriwardana
 
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Totally agree!

This SL side is probably as bad as Pakistan in many ways but not sure they have the strength to lift themselves up!
 
Nice write up.

You never know in ODIs. Just need 2 guys to fire big and you win the game. And can certainly see a few names in that SL line up that can win games.
 
Seeing Sri Lanka in this state is very upsetting. Cannot believe Dickwella was dropped after one bad series. Also they invested a lot in Dananjaya and have dropped him for Vandersay who never gets a regular run anyway.

I respect Karunaratne but he has a lot on his plate and lot to prove as he needs show he is an ODI player too.

Don't see Sri Lanka doing much. I hope Mendis has a good tournament as he is a player I like. But Sri Lanka are just making up the numbers unfortunately.
 
Will be interesting to see how much switched on they are in the warm up games.
 
Markhor being generous by saying they'll end up 9th. They'll end up last and get smacked by every other team. Even in 1999, which was their worst world cup until now, they didn't look as hopeless as they do now. Can't believe the decline they've had in the last 4 years or so.
 
Nine years on from his international debut, Sri Lanka's Jeevan Mendis describes centre stage at the Cricket World Cup as a 'dream come true'.

Mendis, now 36, last made a ODI appearance four years ago and spent months training on his own in Colombo in the hope of a bolt from the blue.

Having shone in South African domestic cricket, Mendis has been pitched back in by the 1996 winners and is hoping to use his experience in English conditions to make a mark.

"I have just been working on my fitness at my club, Tamil Union, not involved with any cricket really," said Mendis, who spent a season in county cricket at Derbyshire in 2017.

"I was hoping to maybe get a chance at the World Cup and it's a dream come true.

"Playing in England was very helpful for me. I learned how to adapt to conditions in this country and how you can still spin the ball.

"It isn't easy to make an impact as a spinner so I will share my experience with the boys and hopefully we can do well."

Mendis is striking up an unlikely spin partnership with fellow leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay, himself brought in after nearly two years out of the side.

The Sri Lanka squad will lean heavily on the experience of newly-appointed skipper Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga in their bid to succeed.

Karunaratne's 87 and 54 from Mathews in warm-up defeat to Sri Lanka suggests Sri Lanka's senior players are primed to spearhead their challenge.

Mendis, who brings 54 one-day caps to the table, says their first two games against New Zealand and Afghanistan will be crucial as they settle into the tournament.

"It's a bit difficult blending the squad together," he said.

"But as a team back home, we were training together for one month. We are a young team with experience.

"I think we're still getting used to English conditions. We've played in Scotland already - it was freezing there!

"The first two games of the World Cup are going to be crucial.

"If we can do well in those, that will set the tone for a good tournament for Sri Lanka."
 
MenInG said:
Totally agree!

This SL side is probably as bad as Pakistan in many ways but not sure they have the strength to lift themselves up!
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This Pakistan side should whitewash this poor Srilankan side. The weakest side in Srilankan history to represent in a WC I think
 
Very weak team. They shot themselves in the foot by picking bits and pieces players like Mendis and Siriwardana and a ttf like Thirimanne over Chandimal, Tharanga, Dickwella and Dananjaya. Wouldn't be surprised if they finish at the bottom.
 
MenInG said:
Totally agree!

This SL side is probably as bad as Pakistan in many ways but not sure they have the strength to lift themselves up!
Click to expand...

That's a bit much. Sri Lanka is probably the worst side at the tournament.
 
Yikes! their team is in a bad state but all you need is a couple of wins to get going, however, I still foresee a first round exit for them.
 
Lasith Malinga confident he still has what it takes

There may be just a few signs of grey in that trademark hair but Lasith Malinga is certainly showing no signs of slowing down.

The 35-year old needs just one more ODI wicket to move into the all-time top ten, replacing former Sri Lanka team-mate Sanath Jayasuriya in the process.

He’s notched 322 victims in his 218 games and remains one of the most frightening sights for batsmen in world cricket.

He recently claimed 16 wickets for Mumbai in the Indian Premier League, underlining his status as one of the world’s best death bowlers with a final over against the Chennai Super Kings that secured his team a record fourth IPL title.

And England fans won’t forget his 5-44 figures during the ODI series in Dambulla last October.

His longevity and success remains a formula that’s hard to unpick.

Years of study and hours of watching tape and batsmen still struggle to differentiate his action, whether he’s slinging down a scorching yorker or throttling back the speed with a textbook slower delivery.

“It can never harm to get wickets,” he said.

“It was nice to be successful in the IPL again and it makes you confident but the conditions are so different here and so is the format.

“I know I’ve got the skills to take wickets and gives me confidence.

“One of the things I like about playing in England is you have to adapt to every condition. It could be really hot or quite cold and that is a real test of your skill as a bowler.”

Malinga’s place in ICC Men's Cricket World Cup folklore is already secure - four wickets in four balls against South Africa in 2007 earning him a place of his own on the bowling statistics.

He’s also the only player with two hat-tricks, with another three-ball demolition job against Kenya four years later.

“Why can’t I get another hat-trick, I will be trying and that would be special,” he added.

Sri Lanka’s class of 2019 offers a blend of youth and experience but the build-up to the tournament has not been plain sailing.

And Malinga admits they are a long shot to repeat the success of 1996, when Arjuna Ranatunga inspired Sri Lanka to World Cup glory.

“In previous years perhaps we had bigger names but these guys are very talented and they are looking forward to proving themselves and making people notice them,” he added.

“We have the best 15 players in Sri Lanka right now and we have a mix of more experienced players and some exciting young players, who just can’t wait to get started.”
 
Sri Lanka really looks down and out. Barring few upsets here and there, they don't have huge chance this time.
 
This is the weakest Sri Lankan team to feature in a world cup and I dont see them causing much stir in this world cup expect for an upset or 2 like they did in Champions trophy by beating india in 17..
 
Runs are flowing more than ever in one-day cricket but Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga believes bowlers still hold the key in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019.

Batting has hit new heights across the 50-over game with ten totals of 400+ scored since the start of 2014 – the same number registered in the previous 43 years of the format.

Master blasters and superb strikers are therefore backed for a big role across England & Wales, but Malinga is hopeful those with ball in hand can wrestle back the advantage.

A delayed arrival means the 35-year-old did not feature in Sri Lanka’s warm-up matches but with just six bowlers boasting more than his 43 World Cup wickets, he knows better than most what it takes to stop the batsmen in their stride.

“Cricket is going towards the batsmen but bowlers can change the game, they get the wickets and that wins a match,” he said following Sri Lanka’s defeat to Australia at the Hampshire Bowl.

“Whoever has the skilful bowlers, in any condition on any pitch, will have the advantage in the team.

“Bowlers need to have a skill, then know how to analyse a game. They need to improve as quickly as they can and get confidence from their performances.

“In the last couple of years, I have worked on the variations and it boosts confidence, but situation analysis is very important.

“The team expects and I expect in myself to know how to do this, if I want to be a match-winner I need to take wickets and if I feel that’s a slower ball, I go for it. I have good confidence to bowl it.”

Malinga watched on as his Sri Lanka side, led by captain Dimuth Karunaratne, lost out to Australia by five wickets in their second and final warm-up game.

Batting first on a wicket offering spin, Sri Lanka made 239/8 from their 50 overs only for Aaron Finch’s side to chase down the target with five overs to spare to follow up victory over England.

Australia are among the favourites for the tournament having won the World Cup four years ago but Malinga, twice a runner-up in 2007 and 2011, knows nothing can be ruled out at this early stage.

He added: “We can’t tell before the tournament who is going to be best. From experience, the underdog beating the best team in the world is possible.

“Australia have very good players, match-winning players and that’s a very important thing, they’re high in the rankings and I feel they’re one of the favourites in the competition.

“We know we come to England in bouncy pitches, we are prepared and we’ve played in the conditions quite a lot.

“In England, Australia and New Zealand you expect those conditions, so it’s not a big deal to us. All the players are prepared for the pitches.”
 
The World Cup is yet to begin but Kusal Mendis admits Sri Lanka are playing catch-up on the eve of their opener against New Zealand.

The Lions lost their second warm-up game to Australia at the Hampshire Bowl, with Usman Khawaja’s 89 steering the defending ICC Men's Cricket World Cup champions to a comfortable five-wicket win.

That followed an 87-run loss to South Africa on Friday where Sri Lanka also struggled with the bat, scoring 251.

They limped to 239-8 here, led by Lahiru Thirimanne’s 56 at the top of the order, and Mendis insists they need to work hard with the bowling machine in order to sharpen up.

“We did not bat very well. There was a chance to get to 300 out there on that wicket but we struggled in the middle overs and lost any momentum,” he said.

“It was a battle and it ruined the plan we had as a team. We did our best from there but we did not score enough runs and they were able to knock them off.

“We are confident we can turn this around. Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga will step it up at the weekend and that will give everyone a lift with bat and ball.

“There are faster wickets here than in Sri Lanka and we will be on the bowling machine to get used to the conditions.”

Sri Lanka won the toss and made a steady start before captain Dimuth Karunaratne fell for 16 to Kane Richardson.

And from there they struggled to build a platform, with Kusal Perera (12), Mendis (24), Mathews (17) and Jeevan Mendis (21) all failing to build on steady starts.

Mendis knows that every road has its bumps and insists the squad will remain patient – citing last month’s terrorist attacks in Colombo as a unifying factor.

“There is a special support here. I am Catholic but some players are Buddhist and then some are Muslims,” he said,

“In Sri Lanka, all religions are the same. We are supporting each other and we have had a lot of support from around the world.

“We are together as a team and the country is behind us. Now it is up to us to perform.”
 
As an eight-year-old boy tuning into Sri Lanka’s 1996 triumph on a pocket radio, Dimuth Karunaratne instantly learned the danger a cricket underdog can pose.

Like most Sri Lankans that ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup moment fuelled a lifelong dream for Karunaratne, a desire to relive the glory days and inspire a nation to recreate unforgettable moments.

Twice runners-up, the Lions have yet to roar as loud as they did 23 years ago but their bid to set the world alight remains unchanged, the 2019 edition no exception.

But this time around they enter the arena with a guard that has most certainly changed four years on from the last World Cup.

Elder statesmen and Sri Lanka legends Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene have since hung up the gloves, their retirements sorely felt with the bat and in the leadership department.

Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga remain but, with neither yielding success as captain, the inevitable change fell as preparations crested. Enter Karunaratne.

A surprise choice to some he may have been but with a smile on his face throughout his nation’s two warm-up games, the 31-year-old is determined to make the best of the job.

Indeed, had the call not come his way Karunaratne would likely have featured at the Hampshire Bowl for different reasons to their second warm-up against Australia, having signed for the county in the English domestic season.

But with a fresh chance four years on – one ODI against Scotland aside – from his last 50-over appearance for Sri Lanka, the opener is not keen to relinquish his new-found opportunity any time soon.

Make no mistake, Karunaratne is a man feeling the expectation of a nation as skipper and opening bat.

Yet with a blend of patience and flexibility spearheading his approach to leadership, the pieces may just be in place for the world’s No.9 ranked side to upset those higher up the ladder.

After all, it wouldn’t be an ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup without inconsistent preparation in the eyes of exclusive ICC columnist Jayawardene.

“Fortunately, this is nothing new for Sri Lankan cricket and it is a given that things are never settled for a big tournament. That’s just the way it is,” he said.

“But the team always manages to deal with it and do well regardless, so I am hopeful it will be the same this year.

“If England or Australia had suffered this level of disruption I am not sure how they would react, but for Sri Lanka it’s quite normal.”

Normal it may be but the onus is on Karunaratne to thrive despite the upheaval, with opening games against New Zealand, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh a starting point upon which to build.

Warm-up defeats to South Africa and Australia were far from ideal preparations but both games brought positives, the skipper among those to score with 87 in the first game.

Now his own personal challenge is turning that into three figures.

With 18 ODIs and two fifties to his name, averaging 20.53 with the bat, leading from the front is simply a must in a batting unit that, while talented, lacks togetherness as a unit.

But with a Test series win in South Africa in his locker – the first Asian captain to achieve the feat – Karunaratne is not a complete rookie when leading a team to success.

Follow in those footsteps and maybe another eight-year-old child with a pocket radio will find inspiration from an unlikely cause in this World Cup.
 
I feel sorry for Sri Lanka as they have always been a good side in the World Cups since they breakthrough year in 1996. This time though they are lacking in batting and bowling. Their fielding is awful as well. Hard to imagine as I remember in the 90's SL were the best fielding side in Asia.
 
New Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne has enlisted a number of former greats to try and inspire his side on the eve of their tournament opener against New Zealand.

The Sri Lankans are former winners of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup – back in 1996 – but enter this year’s edition on a difficult recent run of form.

They are ranked ninth of the ten teams competing here in England and Wales, have been whitewashed 5-0 four times in three years and have called up Karunaratne to skipper the side, despite the opener not playing an ODI for his country in four years.

But the likes of Arjuna Ranatunga – captain of the 1996 champions – and Kumar Sangakkara have given this squad their backing.

And Karunaratne – who inspired his country to a Test series win in South Africa earlier this year – is feeling confident on the eve of their tournament opener against New Zealand in Cardiff.

“Sanga came and gave us some words of advice which was really helpful, he did really well in the last World Cup so it was useful to hear how he prepared, mentally and everything else,” he said.

“Arjuna who lifted the World Cup in 1996, he spoke to us and gave us advice before we left Sri Lanka.
“That is the sort of thing we need to be courageous, past cricketers coming in and helping us. Mahela (Jayawardene) is also here and we hope he will come and talk to us as soon as possible.

“It is not easy when you don’t know the players and they haven’t played a single game in a long time.

“Even me, I came back into the side after four years so it is not easy.

“But if you get a chance you need to prove yourself. Every time you need to be hungry.

“Those new players who want to do well, they want to perform to stay in the team.

“I also have some experienced guys that have played World Cups before and they are key if you want to do well, you need those kind of players.”

Karunaratne skippers a squad that includes six players who have 80 or more ODI caps to their name – including veteran and until recently captain Lasith Malinga.

But there are a number of new faces on board as well, including Avishka Fernando and Isuru Udana, and that inexperience could work in their favour – according to the captain.

“No-one seems to remember the domestic level of games. All the other guys who have played in the last couple of years failed to perform for Sri Lanka,” added Karunaratne – who has not decided if he will open or bat at No.3 on Saturday.

“That is why the selectors want to give a new chance to the players who have done well domestically.

“That was the past. We have a good side with fresh faces, and are trying to start again.

“We have prepared very well, played two good practice games and a match against Scotland.

“We are trying to be ready for the World Cup and I think we are.”

Much like four years ago, they open up against New Zealand.

The Black Caps downed them back then on their way to a runners-up finish and also claimed a 3-0 ODI series win at the start of the year on home soil. But the Sri Lankans are undaunted in Cardiff.

“If we perform really well in all three departments I think we can definitely beat the Kiwis,” added the captain.

“It’s a 50/50 game. New Zealand beat India and the next day West Indies beat New Zealand. It doesn’t matter who are the underdogs.

“If you are doing well on that particular day, you can win the game. We want to compete with the others.”
 
giri26 said:
I feel sorry for Sri Lanka as they have always been a good side in the World Cups since they breakthrough year in 1996. This time though they are lacking in batting and bowling. Their fielding is awful as well. Hard to imagine as I remember in the 90's SL were the best fielding side in Asia.
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I feel sorry for pakistani fans.
 
Jeevan Mendis backs Sri Lanka to restore confidence after New Zealand defeat

It’s a matter of when, not if, Sri Lanka get the injection of confidence they need to ignite their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 campaign.

It’s a matter of when, not if, Sri Lanka get the injection of confidence they need to ignite their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 campaign.

That’s the view of Jeevan Mendis, who watched on as his side fell to a ten-wicket defeat in their opening game against New Zealand at Cardiff Wales Stadium.

Mendis – returning to the fold four years after his one-day debut – feels with eight games still to play that Dimuth Karunaratne’s men can still get the wins they need to advance to the final four.

“We have to say the first two games are very crucial to give all the players and the team a boost,” said the 36-year-old.

“We hope we can pull something out of the bag in the next games.

“The format is good. For all the teams to play each other is great and it gives us lots of chances to get the five wins you need to get to the semi-finals.

“As a batting group, we need to at least put scores of 270, 280 on the board. Hopefully the wickets dry up and our pace and spin variation come into play.

“It’s all about our confidence and a few batsmen can get in and play an anchor role, we’ll be able to bat around them and play well.”

Sri Lanka will remain in Wales with their next World Cup outing coming at Cardiff against Afghanistan, the only World Cup contender ranked lower than them in the ICC rankings.

They’ll need to kick the habit of losing wickets in the first ten overs if they’re to continue their fine record at ICC major events, reaching the knockout stages in eight of the last nine showpieces.

Mendis reiterated head coach Chandika Hathurusingha’s emphasis on keeping wickets in hand early on, allowing the powerful likes of Thisara Perera and Isuru Udana to cut loose in the closing overs.

“We always talk about not throwing too many wickets away in the first powerplay, but it didn’t happen,” he said.

“We always want to score 30, 40 runs in the first powerplay and not lose too many wickets.

“New Zealand bowled well and were very disciplined, so it became a sticky innings for us.

“We need to adapt to score runs at all stages of the innings.

“We have power hitters who can come in at the latter stage and make quick runs so hopefully the top five can put us on a good platform.”
 
The weakest Sri Lankan team yo have ever featured in the World Cup..
 
Experienced Sri Lanka bowler Lasith Malinga stressed the importance of patience as his side look to bounce back with an emphatic performance in a “must-win” game against Afghanistan.

The two teams are both searching for their first wins of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 when they meet in Cardiff.

Sri Lanka were on the wrong end of a heavy defeat to New Zealand in their opening match, with captain Dimuth
Karunaratne’s unbeaten fifty the only highlight of a ten-wicket loss.

And after Sri Lanka collapsed to 136 within 30 overs against the Black Caps, Malinga admitted the batsmen must take more responsibility when they face the ever-improving Afghans.

“At the moment, we are concerned with our own skill and how we’re going to play,” he said. “That's what we are most concerned about. Whoever is batting or bowling, he has to have a perfect game.

“We need a must-win game in this competition, we need a must-win game tomorrow. We will try our best in accuracy and tactically, everything hopefully will be there tomorrow.

“The most important thing we need is patience, patience is very important. We know these conditions, we can have someone get 60, 70 runs and still some balls can move.

“We have to have a bit of patience; we have to analyse the conditions. Whoever is the batsman, he has to finish the game. It’s down to whoever is there, he has to finish the game.

“Whoever takes responsibility, bowler or batsman, whoever is the best tomorrow will win. Afghanistan have good experience players because most of the players play in franchise cricket.

“They have that experience, they know how to accelerate and they have confidence, a few from IPL and others have been playing franchise cricket. The important thing is pressure handling.

“I think they have more experience, especially handling pressure, and that's the big challenge for us. I believe if we do our best, we can see good finishing at the end of the day.”

Sri Lanka were World Cup finalists in 2007 and 2011 after winning the trophy in 1996, but they had only won two of their last 16 completed ODIs coming into this year’s tournament.

And despite their less than promising start, Malinga believes Sri Lanka have the ability to go far if they can pick up a confidence-boosting victory against Afghanistan in the Welsh capital.

“I think for our first match back against New Zealand, we know how tough these conditions are and we tried our best but it didn't go our way,” said the 35-year-old fast bowler.

“We have in this tournament nine matches, but it’s just our second match starting tomorrow and before the match both teams are the same - no runs, no wickets, still the same.

“Whoever is doing best first half innings, they can carry on the winning way. That's why we are looking forward to the game and trying to do our best after 10:30.

“We have talent but not much experience in these conditions and people to have to realise what the team expects in this situation. We see Dimuth had a good temperament to play this condition.

“I feel we have also top seven batsman and they have responsibility, but bowlers have a big role to play in the game as we never know what's going on, who is bowling first or second.

“Bowlers can change the game, I still believe that. I feel players need to get confidence, but we can improve skill at the moment and we need to get mentally tough as all the pressure is on us.”
 
Is Sri Lanka the least talented team in this World Cup?

Not a single world class batsman or bowler. Gets demolished by lower ranked teams every now and then. Am I wrong or is there any worse team?
 
I had a hard time coming up with any strengths for the article and you see why :))
 
Man what's happened to Kusal Mendis ? I remember comparing him to a young Babar Azam, and that knock vs India in that Test series.
 
Before anyone says they got new team

Kusal Perera, Thisara, Mendis, Malinga, Mathews, Thirimanne, Dimuth, Lakmal have been playing for a while.

They just lack gel holding together. No denying the big three aren't their in the batting lineup but they just.look poor overall. Bowling is ordinary. Why did they drop dickwella and Akila?
 
Executioner said:
Before anyone says they got new team

Kusal Perera, Thisara, Mendis, Malinga, Mathews, Thirimanne, Dimuth, Lakmal have been playing for a while.

They just lack gel holding together. No denying the big three aren't their in the batting lineup but they just.look poor overall. Bowling is ordinary. Why did they drop dickwella and Akila?
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I mentioned that in the OP.
The World Cup squad reflects this turmoil with several experienced players chopped. Wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella has paid the price for a poor South Africa series despite being Sri Lanka’s leading run scorer since the Champions Trophy!

Sri Lanka’s spin stocks, traditionally their match-winning strength, has taken a huge blow with off-spinner and leading wicket-taker since the Champions Trophy, Akila Dananjaya, dropped having struggled with a remodelled action after being reported for an illegal bowling action last winter.
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Mahela Jayawardene: Points on the board are key for Sri Lanka but they must believe in themselves and play better

Points on the board are vital for Sri Lanka but there is still a lot more to come from this team, particularly in the batting department.

Looking at the wicket for the game against Afghanistan in Cardiff, it was clear this was never going to be a high-scoring game.

However there is no question that Sri Lanka could have batted better.
After such a good start, where Kusal Perera batted beautifully and they had two big partnerships, it was disappointing to see them lose their way in the middle.

In fairness to Mohammad Nabi, he bowled well, but the spinners were struggling to get much purchase and were just trying to hold the line.

The way Sri Lanka lost wickets to him in the middle order is a real concern and there were too many soft dismissals. They need to be more proactive in that situation and put the bowler under pressure.

I felt that too many players stayed back in their crease and that was the wrong approach. They should have been looking at 250+ in Cardiff and it is something they will need to put right.

The hope is that the boost from this win will help the batting unit, which looks short of confidence at the moment.

The bowlers did very well in difficult circumstances, with Nuwan Pradeep who was excellent and then some good bowling by
Lasith Malinga at the back end of the innings.

With their five quick bowlers in those conditions, they always had a bit more in the tank and that made the difference in the end in the 34-run victory.

The fielding was a mixed bag with a couple of great dismissals, Thisara Perera’s catch and Dimuth Karunaratne’s run out, but they also dropped a couple of catches and can do much better in that department.

Overall though, I know there is more to come from this team. There are enough match-winners in the side for them to beat anybody which is why I want to see more out of them.

Kusal’s innings was great, he played his natural game and applied it really well. And Dimuth has batted well in these conditions.

However they need those around them to play the roles allocated to them. At times they lacked application and did not stick to a game plan.

That comes from a lack of confidence which will hopefully change thanks to this win.

Playing Pakistan next in Bristol will be a very interesting game. After losing a low-scoring game against New Zealand, and after another low-scoring match here, we need to see them put it all together with the bat.

If they can do that, then the bowlers have a bit more freedom to put in place their game plans.

A flat track would certainly help them with that confidence, but until then, the batters need to dig in.

Afghanistan are a good team and could upset a few teams in this ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, so in that sense it’s a good win.

The ability is there, the team just need to believe in themselves.

ICC Media Release
 
Isuru Udana delighted Sri Lanka held their nerve to secure victory

Securing a morale-boosting win was all that mattered to Isuru Udana after Sri Lanka held their nerve against Afghanistan to get off the mark in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019.

Sri Lanka recovered from a second batting collapse in as many games to defeat Afghanistan by 34 runs (DLS method) after being rescued by bowlers Lasith Malinga (3/39) and Nuwan Pradeep (4/31).

It was only their second ODI win of the year and ensured they bounced back from a heavy ten-wicket defeat by New Zealand in their opening game after being bowled out for 136.

And while a question mark may still hang over Sri Lanka’s batting, Udana believes the victory will give them the confidence needed to perform better in the rest of the tournament.

“It was good as this was a much-needed win for us, we have been waiting for this win for a long time so it’s good to get off the mark in this World Cup,” he said.

“We had some plans in our meetings and they paid off with the ball. Our batting was a problem for us though and I think it has been a problem for the last year.

“We have to bat longer in the middle as we had a good partnership for the first two wickets and once again we collapsed so we need to do better.

“We knew that the ball would move and we didn’t have any option but to defend, so that was the plan and thankfully we managed to keep taking wickets.

“Pradeep was the main man and he was probably the man who changed the game. He did really well especially considering he didn’t play the first match against New Zealand.

“He did really well because I think Afghanistan have a lot of experienced guys and I think this win is a really good one for us and gives us confidence going forward.”

Sri Lanka looked in pole position to score a big total after reaching 144/1 thanks in large part to Kusal Perera (78), but they crumbled to 201 all out as Mohammad Nabi took 4/30.

Afghanistan then found themselves 57/5 before a partnership of 64 by Najibullah Zadran and Gulbadin Naib gave them hope - only to fall short of the revised total of 187.

Sri Lanka will now face back-to-back matches in Bristol against Pakistan and Bangladesh - and Udana admits his side are looking forward to a change of scenery.

“We had to defend 187 in Cardiff and we knew the ball would move, we just needed to do the right things,” he said. “I think every bowler did really well with the ball.

“In the first game we played against New Zealand here it was too green, some wickets are like flat tracks in England and both of our games we had green tracks.

“We still have to play with those conditions, we can’t control things like that. The thing is New Zealand are used to these conditions, whereas the Afghanistan players weren’t.

“We believed we had more of a chance and we played five fast bowlers, so we knew we had an opportunity. This win is a much-needed win for us as we haven’t had it for four-five months.

“We lost in South Africa so this win will boost us. We have Pakistan and Bangladesh in Bristol next and the conditions will not be like this as I hear they are good, flat tracks.

“It’s short boundaries at Bristol as well but still we have to stick to our basic plan and we are confident we can move on from this and go well.”
 
10 June - Bristol - Sri Lanka batting coach Jon Lewis pre-match press conference

Q. Last time with the washout, what's the mood in the camp like with the squad at the moment?
JON LEWIS: The mood's pretty good. Obviously, you're right, to be here five or six days ago and not get a chance to play was frustrating, but we're still off the back of the win against Afghanistan. So we needed that, because we were possibly a little bit low before that.

So you know in effect we're still off the back of last win. The last game we played as a win. No, we are in pretty good shape. Slight disappointment maybe yesterday when Nuwan got injured, Nuwan Pradeep. I don't think he's in contention for tomorrow, which is a shame and disappointing for him. But as a group, yeah, I think we're this good shape.

Q. Can I just ask, what's it been like for you working with Sri Lankan players? What's been the biggest difference you've noticed from, say, coaching English players, or is there one?
JON LEWIS: I think cricketers are cricketers to be honest. There are cultural difference, no doubt about it, between Sri Lanka and England, probably in all countries.

It's been a huge honour for starters, have to acknowledge that, and the players have been fantastic, very welcoming, very easy for me to work with, despite the fact that there are occasional language difficulties. But the rest of the staff helped me out and some of the senior players helped me out when there is difficulty. Most of the guys speak pretty good English, which is fortunate for me because my Sinhalese is not so strong.

Q. You've been very good quite some time with the Sri Lanka team. What is it that the team is lacking in the batting department that they cannot put some good scores? Because the last match, you see they got a good start and then it collapsed. What are the reasons you give for this kind of thing?
JON LEWIS: I think the last game, as you say, a good start. Part of that good start I think was probably caused by -- we played some good cricket but Afghanistan probably weren't at their best at the start with the new ball. As they improved, we probably didn't recognize the fact that they had improved, and we expected them to carry on the same level. So when we opened the door, which we did, they pushed on through. It was our fault. We opened the door. We gave them the opportunity to push on through, and once they were on a high, they were very good. They put a lot of pressure on us. I think coming into the World Cup, we wouldn't have anticipated that -- I think we thought if we got start, if we got through the new ball period we would be in decent shape with some good experienced players in the middle with Mendis and Mathews in the middle, especially, but they obviously haven't quite fired yet. But you know, against Afghanistan we got away with that. I'm confident the players of that quality will definitely come to the party soon. So you know, if we can -- good to get a win when we weren't at our best, but yeah, we do need more from some of the batters.

Q. How do you rate the Bangladesh team against tomorrow match?
JON LEWIS: They are a very good side, there's no doubt about it. They have had a tough start to the World Cup in terms of the fixtures, some difficult ones, but they have obviously put in some good performances even in games they haven't won, they have put in good performance which have suggested they are going to be a tough opposition for everybody, so we know that. But our focus will be on us and us being positive on ourselves, and we'll believe even though we know it is a strong opposition, and an opposition that probably has the right to be confident because of the way they have played so far, we'll still be backing ourselves very strongly.

Q. Obviously you're looking to win tomorrow's match, but recent past Bangladesh's record against Sri Lanka was good. How much is it easy or tough for your team?
JON LEWIS: It will be tough and as you say Bangladesh have had a couple of decent results against Sri Lanka, but you know, this is a World Cup. The situation is very different. I think already, you've seen that maybe World Cup cricket isn't the same as bilateral one-day tournaments. Yeah, no doubt at all that there's a hell of a challenge ahead of us, but we also do have a lot of confidence in the players that we have in our dressing room and a lot of faith in them. So we are still confident.

Q. Any injury concern?
JON LEWIS: Nuwan Pradeep. Nuwan who was excellent in the last game against Afghanistan and was pretty good throughout the buildup to the World Cup. Unfortunately he damaged a finger yesterday. Nothing hopefully too serious. Just maybe tomorrow's game that he'll be unavailable for.

Q. Who do you think could be the X-factors for this match tomorrow?
JON LEWIS: I think in our dressing room, we've got a few X-factors. I think Thisara's power with the bat is obviously something which can come to the fore. Lasith Malinga has been world-class for years. So I think we can always be optimistic that he's going to bring in a performance which can just turn a game. Angelo, as we spoke before, Angelo Mathews has been a top player for a long time. You can't expect him to go on not producing big runs soon. It's going to come for a player of his quality. We are confident that's going to come.

Q. Mendis and Mathews, having had the very slow start to the tournament that they had, how do you as a batting coach approach that situation, trying to lift them out of those -- of their modest scores?
JON LEWIS: Yeah, slightly different with both. Slightly different sort of ages and different situations in their career. I think with Angelo, you've got to have faith in the guy who has done as much as he has over such a long period of time, and he tells me that he's in a good place. He's in a good head space and he's comfortable with his game. You know, at this stage I've got no reason to doubt that the runs will come for him. Thisara could do with a little bit of a confidence boost. For him it's just a case of getting through those first 20 balls, because in the buildup to the game, to the World Cup, in Scotland he played very well. The two warmup games against he can he can excellent bowling attacks, he was in good form, only got 20s and 30s, which was a bit of a downer. It would have been a good opportunity to get a big score. But there was nothing about his form in those two games that suggested that there's anything to worry about. He's had two low scores, and yeah, it will be good if he had some more runs behind him, but he's probably only 20 balls away from being really away.

Q. Is there maybe a bit of a concern just looking at how the team's run has gone, the last two with New Zealand, then a fairly narrow win over Afghanistan and a washout here and tomorrow is not looking good. Let's say there is a washout and one more point. Perhaps fall behind the cliché 8-ball when you all of a sudden face Australia, a team like Australia at Lords in a few days?
JON LEWIS: The Oval.

Q. Oval, sorry.
JON LEWIS: You're not being very optimistic. You're looking at the --

Q. I was here at that match, nothing happened. Tomorrow, the forecast is almost as bad. So in a worst-case scenario, let's say it does happen, there's no match, boom, all of a sudden you're playing Australia. Perhaps --
JON LEWIS: Yeah, that would be a tough game. That would be a tough game if that happens. We're still pretty confident we're going to play some cricket tomorrow. Let's just try and think on the positive side of this one. So we're confident we'll play some cricket; and if things are terrible and we end up not playing any cricket, we'll go to The Oval, knowing that the various times in this competition, this is England, other teams could have bad luck with weather. We wouldn't dwell on it. It would be a shame. It would be disappointing for the people of Bristol if they have two Sri Lanka games and not get a game. But no, we will prepare for the game. We'll be happy to be playing it, even if it is a shortened game. We'll deal with what happens after that, after that.

Q. Obviously every team comes here thinking that they are going to be a title contender. How much of that belief is there in this team, do you think, within the Sri Lanka squad?
JON LEWIS: I think I said before, there are sides here who are probably tipped to be semifinalists, England, India, those types of sides. It would be quite a surprise if those two sides didn't make the semis. But I think as you said, everyone comes here, thinking well with a good run, we can get to the top four, and once you're in knockout cricket, everyone will back themselves to be successful. I think we're probably in that group. Possibly not necessarily tipped to be one of the semifinalists; but knowing that if we get a bit of luck with the weather, if it comes at the right time for us, not the wrong time, and we play our best cricket possibly when other sides don't quite find their best cricket, then we can turn over anybody. You know, the ambition is to get to the semifinals. Beyond that, I think everyone will sit down at that point. The last four teams will sit down and say, okay, we're right in this.

Q. First of all, I hope nobody asked about this. Is Thirimanne okay?
JON LEWIS: Thiri?

Q. Yes. He had a little knee niggle yesterday.
JON LEWIS: Thiri is good. The only -- as I mentioned earlier, the only player I think who is unavailable is Nuwan, Nuwan Pradeep.

Q. And how is the team camp thinking about bringing someone like Avishka Fernando for a shortened game, instead of Thirimanne, if it's a shortened game?
JON LEWIS: Avishka could be a candidate for a long game or a short game. I think he's been talked about. I take your point there with the shortened game; you might play the extra batter. So it might be as well as, rather than instead of. But yeah, Avishka is practising well. It's a little bit unfortunate, he picked up a niggle which caused him to miss one of the warm up games -- I forget which one. I think it was the South Africa game. He got injured at Cardiff. He missed one or two of the warm up games, so that's possibly the reason why he hasn't started so far. But he's been practising well. He played well in Scotland in his last ODI. I think he got his highest-ever ODI score there. It was a bit of a while ago, but that's his last ODI innings and he got 70-odd I think.

Q. Just to elaborate on Mendis, he's obviously very talented test player and he's made good runs in test form. He's been a bit inconsistent to be honest in one-day cricket. What does he have to do to translate that test form into this format of the game?
JON LEWIS: He's a very talented player. You say he's a talented test player; I agree. The numbers at the moment look good. I think his T20 record is quite good as well, actually. 50 overs, his numbers aren't where a player of his ability should be, yet, he's still quite early in his career to be fair to him. I know he's played 40 or 50 games, but they do rack up quite quick. I think his conversion from 20s, 30s into 80s, 90s, hundreds is the big step forward he needs to make. I said in the two warm up games against Australia and South Africa, two very good sides, I think he got 30 in both. He looked really, really in good touch, and that's the sort of day when you've got to get a hundred because you know, you can't be in good touch every day. So if you could convert his starts, his 25s into a few more big scores, firstly, it would be very good for us as a team because we need our top four to be producing more than just 40s. We need proper scores from that. And it would be good for him, as well. It would give him a lot of confidence. He's only got the one 100 so far in his career, and I think that was Bangladesh, I think. Is that right? Somebody good with the stats? Thank you. So maybe that's a good omen. Maybe he'll get a second one tomorrow.
 
Batting coach Jon Lewis insists the quality of Sri Lanka’s middle order will shine through sooner rather than later after their indifferent start to the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

Sri Lanka experienced a washout in their last outing against Pakistan, having lost their opening match of the tournament against New Zealand before beating Afghanistan in Cardiff.

They suffered batting collapses in both of those completed games, crumbling from 144/1 to 201 all out against the Afghans after being knocked over for just 136 against the Black Caps.

But despite big names such as Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews failing to fire so far, Lewis is confident Sri Lanka will overcome their middle order batting woes against Bangladesh.

“I think in the last game we made a great start, part of that was caused by us playing some good cricket but Afghanistan were not playing at their best with the new ball,” he said.

“As they improved we didn’t recognise the fact that they have improved and we expected them to carry on at the same levels, so when we opened the door they pushed on through.

“It was our fault, we opened the door and gave them the opportunity to push on through and when they were on a high they were very good and put a lot of pressure on us.

“I think going into the World Cup we would have thought that if we got starts, if we got through that new ball period, we would probably be in decent shape.

“We have some experienced players in the middle with Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews. They obviously haven’t quite fired yet but against Afghanistan, they let us get away with that.

“I’m confident players of that quality will definitely come to the party soon so it was good to get a win when we were not at our best but we do need more from some of the batters.”

Mathews has made back-to-back ducks in Sri Lanka’s opening two games, while Mendis only has two runs to his name, yet Lewis believes a big score is just around the corner for both players.

“With Angelo you have to have faith in a guy who has done as much as he has over a long period of time and he tells me he is in a good place and good headspace,” he added.

“I have no reason to doubt that the runs will come from him while Mendis could do with a little bit of a confidence boost, I think for him it’s a case of just getting through those first 20 balls.

“In the build up to the World Cup, he played well against Scotland and the two warm-up games he looked in good form even though he only got 20s and 30s which was a downer.

“Those would have been a good opportunity to get a big score, but there was nothing about his form in either of those two games to suggest there’s anything to worry about.

“He’s had two low scores and of course it would be good if he had more runs behind him, but I think he’s probably only 20 balls from being really away.”

While Bangladesh also have one win from three games ahead of their meeting with Sri Lanka in Bristol, Lewis suggested their results have not reflected their performances so far.

“They are a very good side, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “They’ve had a tough start in terms of fixtures but they’ve put in good performances even in games they haven’t won.

“That suggests that they are going to be a tough opposition for everybody, so we know that, but our focus will be on us and us being positive about ourselves.

“We’ll believe that even though it’s a strong opposition and an opposition that have every right to be confident because of the way they have played so far, we’ll be backing ourselves strongly.

“It will be tough and Bangladesh have had a couple of decent results against Sri Lanka but this is a World Cup situation and we have seen that it’s different to bi-lateral one-day tournaments.

“There’s no doubt at all that there’s a hell of a challenge ahead of us but we also do have a lot of confidence in the players we have in our dressing room and a lot of faith in them.”
 
Malinga to fly home after Bangladesh match due to mother-in-law's death

Lasith Malinga will leave the Sri Lankan team following their World Cup Game against Bangladesh, which will be played in Bristol on Tuesday, 11 June, following the death of his mother-in-law.

A Sri Lanka Cricket release announced: ”Malinga will leave the team following Sri Lanka’s World Cup game against Bangladesh, which will be played today, as his mother-in-law has passed away.”

Malinga, however, is expected to be back for Sri Lanka's next game, against Australia, which will be played on 15 June.

The fast bowler is seen as crucial to his team's chances at the World Cup, bringing along a wealth of experience and past success. His spell of 3/39 against Afghanistan helped Sri Lanka defend a modest total of 201 in a rain-marred game in Cardiff.

The Dimuth Karunaratne-led side is currently placed sixth on the table, with three points in their kitty.

https://www.cricketworldcup.com/news/en/1241160
 
14 June - Oval - Sri Lanka Captain Dimuth Karunaratne pre-match press conference

Q. Can you give us an update on Nuwan Pradeep and also how you all are going to play Australia's pace attack? What sort of preparation have you made for that?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: Nuwan Pradeep, I think he's fit now, but we need to see whether he can field. We check that he can bowl normally, normal speed, but we need to check him whether he can do outfield, outfield training. So that's the main concern, and we will check it today and let's see if he's fit, we'll go for it.

And the training and the fast bowls, I think we already played against the Australians in the practice game and we know each other very, very well. So we have some kind of plans, so we try to stick to those things.

Q. We know that it's a different format, but when you were in Australia earlier this year, the short ball was a real issue. How is the mindset to take on the short ball?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think if you take the whole series, or the whole World Cup match, short balls are a serious matter. There are a lot of wicket, fast bowling taking lot of wicket for the bounces.

I think we know they are going to go really hard against us, but we only -- the thing is, they can bowl only two bounces, so I think we have to be aware of those things. And what when he can do, some players, they can play really good for the short balls. Some of them, they can't. But if you can think you can go for it, I would say I will give -- I will say to the players, yeah, go for it, because we need runs, as well.

So I think those are the plans we discuss in the dressing room, so you're trying to do well against Australian bowling attack.

Q. How difficult has it been to not play a match for -- by tomorrow, it will be 11 days, and is that a disadvantage compared to Australia, who have obviously had a game pretty much every three days since the start of the tournament and they are playing, as Aaron Finch was just saying, travelling, playing, travelling, and they are right in it and you guys aren't.
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think we stay the same place, so only thing is we couldn't get a game. But I think after that, we trained. We trained indoors and outdoors, and we did lots of the physical trainings, those sort of things we can do. You know, we can't control the weather.

Unfortunately we lost the -- we couldn't play those two matches, but we were prepared for the Australian game, and today we have a practice. Normally today is an optional day, but you know, we want to train harder for to play against the Australians, so that's why we are here.

Q. There have been reports that Ashantha de Mel has spoken to ICC about the pitches and the facilities given to Sri Lanka, which are below satisfactory?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I have no idea what Ashanthe said. You should ask from him. I don't know anything about it.

Q. Are you happy with the pitches and the facilities given to you?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I already said, you know, the people are expecting to win games, so they want to hold the doors on the game. So if you take today's game, separate wicket, and you know it's a white color. So if you take this Oval cricket, there's also a bit of green. I think those are the things, you know, we were not expecting every wicket should be white top. We are asking for a fair wicket. You know, you have 50 wickets, that's what we all want and what all the spectators want.

Q. Even this wicket is green, yeah?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: Yeah, it seems like a green wicket.

Q. Just about the hotels and that?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: Sorry.

Q. The hotels and that, to Sri Lanka.
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I have no idea about those sort of things. You should ask from the manager.

Q. Just on Lasith Malinga, has he rejoined the squad, and if so, if he's playing tomorrow, how much of a weapon is he, considering I guess he's had success against Australia in the past.
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: Yeah, he's come to join the team and he's going to play tomorrow's game. I think, you know, obviously if you take -- they are a really good bowling lineup, and their top bowler will bat nine, so we need to get them early. We need to take the early wickets, and you know, we have to bat the first few bowls; they are the crucial part. So those are the main key things we will discuss, so we will try to do it.
 
Karunaratne tells Sri Lanka’s batsmen to take on Australia’s short balls

Dimuth Karunaratne insists the Sri Lanka batting order will have full licence to take on the short ball when they face off with Australia in their crunch ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup clash at the Oval.

On Saturday they come up against an in-form Australia who downed Pakistan on Wednesday at Taunton.

Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins’ fast-bowling barrage has been vital for Australia so far this World Cup, and the same duo also roughed up Sri Lanka in a one-sided Test series at the start of this year.

Sri Lanka’s batsmen – Karunaratne aside – have not hit top form yet, with the team bowled out for 136 and 201 in their two matches so far.

And while short bowling has yielded serious rewards so far across this World Cup, the Sri Lankan skipper insists his side are ready to fight fire with fire in a must-win clash in south London.

“We already played against the Australians in a practice game, we know each other really well,” said the 31-year-old.

“We have some kind of plans, so we will try and stick to them.

“If you look at the World Cup, the short ball has been a serious matter. The fast bowlers are taking a lot of wickets with bouncers.

“We know they are going to go really hard against us, but they can only bowl two bouncers an over so we can be ready for those things.

“Some of our guys are really good players of the short ball, some of them find it hard. But if you think you can go for it, I will tell my players to go for it because we need runs as well.

“We discussed our plans in the dressing room, and we will try to do well against the Australian bowling.”

Seamer Nuwan Pradeep – the tormentor in chief against Afghanistan – is nearing a return following a finger injury sustained in the nets in Bristol.

While Lasith Malinga flew home for a family matter but will be back in time for tomorrow’s clash against Australia, and Karunaratne is sure his side can re-start their campaign quickly.

“Nuwan (Pradeep) is fit now, but we have to see if he can field," he added.

“We will check that at training today so he can do everything in the outfield. That is a concern, we will check that today and if he is fit, he will go for it.

“In Bristol we stayed in the same place, the only thing was we couldn’t get a game. But we trained indoors and outdoors, we did a lot of physical training and did everything we could.

“You cannot control the weather, unfortunately we couldn’t play those two matches, but we are prepared for the Australian game.

“Lasith (Malinga) is on his way, he is coming to join the team and will play tomorrow.

“Australia have a really good bowling line-up and top order with bat in hand. We need to take early wickets and have to get through the early overs with the bat, that will be the crucial part.”

ICC media release
 
Mahela Jayawardene: Sri Lankan middle order needs to grind it out against England

It’s going to be an uphill struggle for Sri Lanka to reach the semi-finals following the 87-run defeat to Australia but it is still possible.

It was a disappointing defeat because they had a great opportunity to get two points but let it slip away.

The opening batsmen, Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera, set up the chase of 335 really well with a brilliant century partnership at 6.5 runs per over.

We just needed two good partnerships to get through the two later spells from Mitchell Starc because there wasn’t much momentum for the other Australian bowlers.

But then there was a complete collapse in the middle order, which is exactly what happened in the warm-up game against South Africa, then the New Zealand loss and even the win against Afghanistan.

It’s a bit of a concern and when Glenn Maxwell bowled, our left-handers got stuck in the situation where he’s their fifth bowler but they were unable to put him under pressure.

If they could have got after Maxwell, then Australia didn’t really have many other options to turn to but it’s a worrying pattern where the middle order are consistently unable to control the tough situations.

They’re experienced players as well, so it’s disappointing. They’re trying different ways to get out of it but for me, the only way is the old-fashioned way – grind it out.

Sri Lanka had opportunity to do that because of the brilliant start by the openers – two good 50-run partnerships would’ve put Australia under tremendous pressure and enabled us to control the chase quite easily.

The fast bowlers bowled really well but both teams tactically probably didn’t get right by not playing a main spinner – which you need to control the middle overs.

Our quicks bowled really well with control but couldn’t pick up wickets. The only way to limit good batting teams is by picking up wickets in middle overs, so you can keep them to 270 or 280.

If Sri Lanka had a genuine spinner in the side it could’ve made a difference and I thought they should’ve gone with Jeevan Mendis because he can bat as well.

Now they need at least two more wins to be in consideration for the top four and it’s four tough teams left – England, South Africa, West Indies and India.

It’s England next and for that match, you have to take a leaf out of Pakistan’s book – they played their natural game against England and deservedly won.

They attacked the England spinners, especially in the middle overs, and I thought Mohammad Hafeez batted brilliantly in that period.

Sri Lanka have to take those chances, put those England bowlers under pressure and kick on when they can.

What you’ve seen to win games at this ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is that either posting a score above 300 or restricting the opposition to less than 270.

It’s all about how Sri Lanka can achieve that. Pakistan had the bowling attack, had the variation and pace to challenge the England batting line-up.

I don’t think Sri Lanka have the pace but the variety is there and I think they have to use a spinner in their line-up to create those opportunities in the middle overs.

Without the middle order firing, it will be tough to post that total above the 300-mark but they are definitely capable of beating England, although it won’t be easy.

© ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2019. All rights reserved
 
Pakistan are joining Sri Lanka.

Too much of a gulf between the top 5 and bottom 5.
 
Sri Lanka to not face ICC sanctions for refusing to attend post-match press conference

Sri Lanka cricket team won’t be facing any sanctions from the International Cricket Council (ICC) after refusing to attend their mandatory post-match press conference at Kennington Oval on Saturday.

Sri Lankan camp didn’t send any representative for the press conference or in the ‘mixed zone’ after losing to Australia by 87 runs for their second defeat of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup in England.

In a statement, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said it has discussed the ‘incident’ with ICC and have assured the global body that it won’t happen again.

“Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce that, contrary to various media reports, there won’t be any sanctions imposed on the Sri Lanka team by the ICC, over its non-participation in the post-match media conference on Saturday (15th June, 2019) following the World Cup game played against Australia,” SLC said on Monday.

The released further added, “Sri Lanka Cricket discussed the ‘Saturday’s Incident’ with the ICC and assured that a similar situation will not occur going forward in the tournament. The SLC also advised the team management to comply with the obligations, a participating team has to adhere during the ICC Cricket World Cup.”

It is customary for a representative of any team to speak to reporters before and after international matches, and when teams participate in an ICC event signs an agreement to fulfil this obligation.

An ICC spokesperson entered the space allotted for press conferences and told the gathered reporters that Sri Lanka would not be attending. “Sri Lanka have told us they don’t want to do it. The ICC will be speaking to them,” the ICC spokesperson had said.

The unprecedented move in an ICC event came days after Sri Lanka’s team manager Ashantha de Mel was critical of the quality of pitches, practice facilities, transport and accommodation for the squad at this World Cup.

https://www.cricketcountry.com/news...-to-attend-post-match-press-conference-858210
 
20 June - Leeds - Sri Lanka Captain Dimuth Karunaratne pre-match press conference

Q. We have seen England play Bangladesh and you know what they are capable of. What plans do your team have after seeing that match of the way England dominated that game?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think generally the England side are a good side. I think they have good batting line-up so we know we need to defend less than 300. We have to give them less than 300, so we have a couple of plans against the batters. And, you know, those are the things we are trying to do in the middle as well.

And the batting line-up, you know, actually, the middle part, they need to take some responsibilities to know if they have scored more than 300, you have to definitely go for that. So those are the key things we discussed before the match and we were trying to do them.

Q. You said the middle order taking more responsibility as they have failed to click in the tournament so far. What kind of things have you been working on so that the middle order can come back to form?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think the only thing is we have to mentally prepare, you know. They have lots of talent and, you know, they did really good things for Sri Lanka in the recent past and I think the only thing we need to do now is come up with a good mindset. That's a key area. If you are playing against good teams, you need a strong mind thing.

We discussed lots about the mindset, you know, and no point talking about the past matches. And already we know what happened with the last four matches and, you know, what are the areas, what are the key areas where the main thing is we lost those matches and we need to have a good mindset and prepare the England game.

There's four games left so we have to play a good, play good, positive cricket with a good mindset.

Q. We saw England hit 25 sixes against Afghanistan and it was pretty destructive. Who do you think is their most dangerous batsman?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think everyone is a dangerous batsman. If you take and start with their batting line-up, Bairstow, if you take Roy, those are the explosive batsmen, they can change a game. So everyone is -- we are not taking everyone. We are taking everyone as a good batsman and good explosive batsman, so we have a plan for each individual and hopefully it will work in this game.

Q. You said you were going to restrict England to less than 300 runs. Realistically speaking, do you think you have the bowling strength to restrict them for less than 300?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: If we don't have, or if we have or if we don't, it would be hard to do that. We need to do something like that. If we don't have good pace, we have to think out of the box so I think that is what we need the last few days what we had to do with the England batters because we played in a home series before with them, so we have a couple of ideas so we need to work on those things in the middle.

Q. At the start of the tournament, everyone was bowling spin to England early as though it was maybe a weakness. Then we saw England hit 110 runs off Rashid Khan. How do you see England's batting against spin?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think England is the best batting line-up against the spinners in the world, so I think if you take the Asian countries, England are playing better than them, so that is why we need to think about that, check the grounds and what are the combinations we have going through for England game.

Are we playing two spinners? Or are we going with the extra batsman or fast bowlers? Those are the things we are discussing now. The only thing is they are a good side against the spinners so far.

Q. In case you want to leave out a middle-order batsman, you don't have a reserve middle-order batsman in the squad. Do you feel that that is one selection where you got wrong?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: No, I think if you take the middle orders, they have lots of experience, they have proven enough for Sri Lanka and they did very well.

I think the only thing is, unfortunately everyone, they couldn't get a start. If you take the middle-order, they couldn't get a start the matches we played so those are the things, that is why they really struggle and they not have confidence to do that, so that is why I told them, you know, to forget about the last four games. We have another four games to go.

And they have to have their hands up to play here. So I said they know to make sure they have good mindset for this game and go for it and you know what you have to do. Go yourself and enjoy the game, that's it.

Q. Things didn't really go in terms of the sort of performance of the game in the ODIs, so what are the areas of concern you have at the moment and what is the update we have on Malinga? Is he with the side? What is the update?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: Yeah, he is here with the side. I think his mother-in-law's passed so that is why he went, you know. Those are the things in the end and we have to accept those things and he was keen to come and play. He came yesterday and he was hitting with us and we had a chat, all those things he's doing.

That is what I need, you know. If he want to stay another couple of days, he could, but he came early and we haven't discussed those things.

If you take the batter, I know we couldn't do much better so far, but we were trying, we were practicing hard and everyone is trying to do their best. Only thing is I said we need to mentally prepare. If you lose games, it is not easy to come back harder. If you are strong enough, you can do it.

Q. Is there belief in the squad that you can make the semifinals?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: Definitely. If you take all the members, they have done really well. We played against India in Champions' Trophy, they made the final, they are the same side, only a few of the guys are not in the squad. But I think they have the ability to do it, but the only thing is they are not mentally strong enough these days, but I think if you can -- everyone can lift their mentally strong, I think they will be in the semifinals.

Q. The last game you guys brought in Milinda Siriwardana and he only bowled a couple of overs, batted at No. 6 and that led to Dhananjaya dropping down to No. 8. Can you explain the thinking there and is that something you might stick with?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think Dhananjaya is playing as a bowler right now in the side. I think Milinda is playing as a all-rounder. He was a much harder hitter than Dhananjaya so that is why we bring him to the side.

And we know if someone can bowl the ten overs and we want to know, take that Milinda to cover those overs, so that is what we were thinking, but unfortunately we need to bowl him in the middle overs because they are playing the fast bowlers and they are doing well so they have plenty of overs left, so that is why he bowled two overs.

We are trying things, you know. We want to make sure and give everyone a chance, how they are capable of letting them sitting on the bench. I think that is what we are trying. What we need to know everyone is given a chance and see who can do better in these conditions.

Q. Continuing what you just said about giving everyone a chance. Is there a possibility that a player like Avishka Fernando can play in tomorrow's game?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: Definitely. That is why we are checking the sizes and their bowling line-up, who can do better in these conditions and this space, so sometimes he will get a chance tomorrow, but we have not decided the side yet. Definitely everyone will get a chance and definitely Avishka might get a chance for tomorrow.
 
Dimuth Karunaratne has labelled England the best players of spin at this World Cup – and admits Sri Lanka will have to think outside the box if they are to halt the hosts’ charge on Friday.

England took Rashid Khan and Afghanistan apart earlier this week at Old Trafford, Eoin Morgan the tormentor in chief as Khan was dispatched for 110 runs from only nine overs.

England crashed 25 maximums in total off the Afghans' spin-heavy attack and are now at Headingley preparing for Friday’s clash against Sri Lanka.

Karunaratne’s troops must win to keep their knock-out hopes alive but England have won six in a row in Leeds and broke the ground ODI record earlier this summer against Pakistan.

And while Imran Tahir and Shadab Khan had some initial success with spin in the first powerplay against England, Karunaratne and Sri Lanka might have other plans up their sleeves.

“England is the best batting line-up against the spinners in the world,” admitted the Sri Lankan skipper.

“If you take the Asian countries, I think England are playing even better than them. We must think about it, check the ground and what combinations will we use against England?

“Will we go with two spinners, or an extra batsman and fast bowler? That is what we are discussing at the moment.

“We know that we need to restrict them to less than 300, we have a couple of plans against the batsmen and we will try to use them in the middle.

“Everyone in their batting line-up is dangerous, they are explosive and can change the game.

“We are taking every one of them seriously. And have a plan for each and everyone and hopefully it will work in this game.

“We will have to think out of the box and that is what we have been doing over the last few weeks.

“We had a home series against them before with them, so we have a couple of ideas and we need to work them out in the middle.”

Sri Lanka lost that home ODI series against England before Christmas, but won the final clash in Colombo which will give them hope on Friday.

With the bat, the top order has fired as Karunaratne and Kusal Perera have combined for four half centuries already this World Cup.

But the middle order is yet to launch, and that cost them dearly in defeat to Australia after a lightning quick start.

“In our batting line-up, in the middle, we have to take some responsibilities. If England have scored more than 300 then we have to go for it,” he added.

“Mentally we have to prepare. The middle order have a lot of talent and did really good things for Sri Lanka in the recent past.

“We need them to come in with a good mindset, that is the key thing when you are playing against a good team.

“There is no point talking about the past, we know what happened in the last four matches and the key areas – we need to look forward and prepare for the England game. We need to play positive cricket.”
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dimuth Karunaratne "England is the best batting line-up in the world against spinners" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cwc19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cwc19</a> <a href="https://t.co/Bb6vFTRQH5">pic.twitter.com/Bb6vFTRQH5</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1141770226792652807?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Players to watch:

21-year-old opener Avishka Fernando strikes at close to a run a ball in List A cricket and was the star of Sri Lanka’s 2016 Under-19 World Cup. Captain Dimuth Karunaratne enters the World Cup with a point to prove in 50 over cricket and in good form averaging over 50 in the Super Four tournament.

[MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION] - you were so right!
 
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21 June - Leeds - Sri Lanka Captain Dimuth Karunaratne post-match press conference

Q. At the halfway stage, did you think you had enough to defend that?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think that we were giving some advantage first. We thought if we hang in there, we definitely have a chance. We need to get a couple of wickets and we win the game, so that's what I told my boys. Keep hanging there, one or two wickets, if you can get one or two wickets, you can win the game.

Q. There were little questions over Lasith Malinga until a few days ago since he went back home and you said, you told him that he could stay back with the family. Now he is back, with four wickets, how do you see that? And do you think his comeback bolsters not only the bowling attack but also improves that morale?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think he's a legend. He know what he has to do, I think. Whatever he do he is doing his best, so that is why I said, if he want to go home and come back, that's fine. So I think he did that and he come back again and he gave a good example for the rest of the guys.

He just keep doing what he knows, that is the main thing, the basic things. Those things we want to set as example for the youngsters. So I think he did really good job and even Angelo, both of them did a really good job. Those are the things, you know, every time you try turning the games, changing the games. Those are the performances of changing the games.

Q. What was the wicket like? It looked like it was difficult to get a start on that wicket. In that sense, how important was Angelo's knock? How much credit do you give him for playing such a knock?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think it looks like a 300 wicket. We thought it was a good, flat wicket, it would come nicely, but when you play, it was seaming a bit in the first few overs, and then suddenly it's a bit slower and slower.

So I think when we are batting, we take some advice from Angelo, he said "It's getting slower and slower." So he said we couldn't get 280, 300, but if you can get 250, 240, it's a good total on this wicket.

So that is what we want and, as Angelo know, as I said, when he informed me, he knew how to play. I think he is a good finisher, I think he did really well, a good job, and hit his area really very well on this track, I think that is what he did. And all of the middle-order batsmen contributed really well once the openers went early, I think they did a really good job.

Q. What does this win do to your chances of a semifinal place now?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think we need to -- we are not thinking -- every game, we want to go one by one to next game with South Africa. So we want to you know play and win that match, so that is our main focus. So we keep focussing on that match so, after that, if we can win it, then we go for the next one. That is what we are planning, one by one.
 
It’s not about the six pack, it’s about the skill and Lasith Malinga showed that in spades in Sri Lanka’s win over England.

He has done it so many times for Sri Lanka over the years but it was great to see him at his best. He was on a mission with the new ball, taking two crucial early wickets which Sri Lanka needed to defend a total like 232.

Then when Joe Root looked like he was playing one of those innings where he just takes the game away from you, Dimuth Karunaratne turned to Mali and threw him the ball. He told him that he needed him and Mali delivered.

Big players perform in big games and that is what he did, removing Root and then Jos Buttler who could have won the game for England as well.

I was really impressed with Dimuth’s captaincy, trusting his players, bringing on the off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva at an important time and getting rewarded for that.

I hope this game will give Sri Lanka a lot of confidence in this ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. They have beaten one of the best teams in the world, and they need to believe in themselves.

At times it feels like they have played with a little bit of fear and have not been able to really express themselves. This win should change that.

Even after they had batted, I felt that it was a competitive total because the wicket was fairly slow.

It was great to see Angelo Mathews scoring some runs. He still isn’t quite in top form and you could tell that he really needed a score.

At times I wanted him to be more aggressive, but with wickets falling around him, he produced a great innings and was the rock of that batting line-up.

A word also for Avishka Fernando. His performance should give Sri Lankan fans a lot of hope for the future.

With Dimuth and Angelo, this team has batsmen who can build an innings but it is important to have the x-factor in there as well and that is what Avishka provides. I’ve been a fan of his for a while now, and I thought he played really well after those two early wickets, taking some of the momentum away from England.

It’s a great win for Sri Lanka, but also for the World Cup and it opens things up a little.

The top four so far have a lot of matches against each other coming up, so they will inevitably drop some points. You look at New Zealand, Australia and England who all have to play each other which does make it interesting.

That leaves Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the West Indies with a chance to close the gap if they can pick up a few more wins.

I’ve always been convinced that Sri Lanka step up their game at World Cups. They have the ability and they have the skill. This game should give them the confidence.

© ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2019. All rights reserved
 
Sri Lanka, the 1996 winners, kick-started their bid for a place in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup semi-finals in dramatic fashion with a 20-run win against hosts England at Headingley.

It took them to six points and off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva insists they can still finish in the top four of the group despite suffering a pair of washouts in Bristol.

While Lasith Malinga took the honours for scything through the England top order, de Silva maintained the pressure with the wickets of Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid in a crucial nine-ball burst.

Captain Dimuth Karunaratne described England on the eve of the game as being the best players of spin, but de Silva’s teasing line and length resulted in figures of 3/32 from eight overs.

“This was the slowest pitch we have had in England so far,” de Silva said. “We like these pitches and on them we can beat any team in the world. We are looking forward to the good weather.

“It was very hard to bat against the pace bowlers because the ball was not coming on to the bat. We bowled in tight areas and with good lines. Variations worked very well for the quick bowlers.

“We were 30 or 40 runs short, but I thought we still had enough runs on the board which we could defend if we got early wickets. I thought we could pull off an upset.”

Moeen was threatening to pull England around having already forced de Silva over the ropes, only to be deceived next ball.

“He can hit it a long way so I slowed up the next one and he was just short of the boundary,” de Silva said.

“We were a bit nervous at the end when [Ben] Stokes hit a couple of sixes. It felt 50-50, but we got the last wicket.

“Dot ball pressure was the main thing through the innings. We did that very well and generally didn’t give them boundaries.”

The senior players rose to the occasion. Not only Malinga, with figures of 4/43, but also Angelo Mathews, whose unbeaten 85 from 115 balls was placed in context by the struggles of England in the second innings.

“Those two are the key players for us,” de Silva said. “If we get 300-plus runs in every match, Lasith will do the job for us.

“He is our main weapon. If it is his day, we know that Sri Lanka can win matches and if I can dedicate something with runs or wickets for the team it is a very good feeling.”

ICC Media Release
 
Experience the key for Mendis in stunning Sri Lanka victory

Kusal Mendis admits Sri Lanka had to lean on their experienced core of Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga to get over the line against England and revive their tournament hopes.

Mendis, 24, made 46 in Sri Lanka’s effort of 232/9 with the bat at Headingley but, after the top order failed to fire, it was Mathews’ knock of 85 not out that really saved them.

Then with the ball, the legend that is Malinga claimed four wickets to help down England and claim a 20-run victory.

And with Malinga and Mathews – both former Sri Lanka captains no less – back in form, confidence has returned to the ranks.

“Angelo is about to come back to form, the team has every confidence that he is back to that form,” said Mendis of the 32-year-old.

“I hope in the next match he will get a hundred.

“Angelo is a past captain, he has played a lot of t20s, he manages pressure situations and Lasith is the same.

“He is always talking to the bowlers and give them confidence.”

Malinga’s scalps on Friday included Joe Root, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow to halt England’s chase before it ever really got going, with the 35-year-old reaching 50 wickets in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

And Mendis – who admitted he thought his side were well short of a good score in the first innings – was delighted to see his side claim their second win of the tournament to keep their semi-final hopes alive.

“Malinga is a legend, ever since I have known him he has been a legend,” he added.

“He has a lot of variations and is a good experienced player who has played a lot of t20 matches. He is a match-winning bowler who has that good confidence.

“He told all the bowlers to use the variations, he told all the players we could do it.

“He is the captain of the bowling team.

“I don’t like facing him in the nets! He has slow balls, bouncers and yorkers.”

England looked like they might claim a dramatic win at the death after Ben Stokes was dropped by Mendis in the deep.

And the youngster breathed a sigh of relief when Nuwan Pradeep finished the job by dismissing Mark Wood with 20 runs to spare.

“That was a good opportunity and a good win,” he added.

“But we have three more games. We know we need to win them and we will try to do that.

“I missed a catch and was very scared! But Nuwan got that wicket and when he did, I said thanks to God!

“Against the world No.1 team, it was a great opportunity and a great win. We know we have lost a lot of ODI matches in the last two years. But today we came to the World Cup.”
 
Sri Lanka coach Hathurusingha wary of ‘fearless’ South Africa

Sri Lanka are wary of a South African side who have nothing to lose in their final matches at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, according to their coach Chandika Hathurusingha.

South Africa have lost five of their seven matches in the group stage and are ninth on the table and are out of contention of making the semi-finals, while Sri Lanka lie seventh.

Victory for Sri Lanka in all three of their remaining matches will see them in with a strong chance of making the final four, but Hathurusinga knows that they have to overcome a wounded South Africa to keep their campaign alive.

“When you have no pressure of qualifying, you can play fearless cricket. At the same time, you could turn up and just want to go home,” Hathurusingha said.

Recently, Sri Lanka have known a South African side that has looked more like the former. In March, South Africa beat Sri Lanka 5-0 in an ODI series at home, and leg spinner Imran Tahir was the highest wicket-taker.

While Hathurusingha acknowledged Tahir’s dominance, he also pointed to the players who missed that series but are at the World Cup as being among those who could be the difference in Friday’s match.

“Our guys play spin okay. Tahir is a world-class performer. I am looking at some of the players who were not in South Africa like Angelo Mathews and Kusal Perera and Dimith Karunaratne. They are in form.”

Mathews and Perera both suffered from hamstring injuries in the South Africa series while Karunaratne had not been selected.

Currently, Karunaratne is Sri Lanka’s top run-scorer at the tournament with 180 runs from four innings while Mathews is coming off a stunning 85 not out from 115 balls in Sri Lanka’s win over England. Mathews, in particular, earned the coach’s praise for his heroics in taking the home side down. “Mathews showed a lot of mental resilience in that innings. He was under pressure, the team was under pressure and he showed a lot of character,” Hathurusingha said.

Mathews was also involved in 71-run stand with Kusa Mendis and 57-run partnership with Dhananjaya de Silva, which was crucial to ensuring Sri Lanka posted a competitive total.

They reached 232/9 and bowled England out for 212 which Hathurusingha said spoke to Sri Lanka’s bowling talent.

He added: “De Silva wasn’t batting as well as we know he can but still had a very good partnership with Mathews. It is key for us to put partnerships together.

“Although we didn't play our best cricket to win the game in terms of batting, we had a perfect bowling display in terms of defending. I think we have enough talent and skills to compete with South Africa tomorrow.”

And to get themselves ready to take on South Africa, Sri Lanka have focused on improving their boundary-hitting as they look to clear the ropes at the Riverside Ground. “We have been practicing power-hitting a lot. The good thing is the top-order has produced. We had two good partnerships in the last game. We know what Isuru Udana and Thisara Perera can produce,” Hathurusingha said.
 
27 June - Chester-le-Street - Sri Lanka coach Chandika Hathurusingha pre-match press conference

Q. Tomorrow is like another crucial match for you because the tournament has just widened up, it's open. So what are your thoughts, what is the strategy? Does the fact that South Africa are already knocked out of the play-off, I mean the last four stage, does that put you in a better position?
CHANDIKA HATHURUSINGHA: You can take it either way. When you have no pressure of qualifying, they can come and play without any pressure, fearless cricket and that can get them going, so at the same time they can turn up and just want to go home, so you never know.

Q. Coach, any update on Nuwan Pradeep, who has been down with fever and the No 6 position, which has been turning around with Milinda Siriwardana coming in one match, Jeevan Mendis last game. Any changes?
CHANDIKA HATHURUSINGHA: On Nuwan, we haven't heard from the doctors yet, he is going to see a doctor today, and then I will know in the evening what the situation is with him.

In terms of No 6 position, you are right that we tried a few players and we didn't have much patience with any of them, so we have to be a little bit patient with the one whoever we pick.

And it all depends on the combination that we want to play against, the opposition, as well as the venue that we are playing. So that also we need to decide in the morning of the game.

Q. Over the years, the Sri Lankan teams have worried about how to play South Africa's fast bowling, but in recent times, Imran Tahir has been quite a handful. How do you sort of plan out, to take him on? You had quite a bit of success in the bilateral series as well?
CHANDIKA HATHURUSINGHA: Yeah, you're right. He is a world-class bowler, that is the reason. It is not only because we have the weakness of playing spin. I think our guys play spin okay, but he's a world-class performer.

The thing for me I'm looking at is some of the players that are playing tomorrow not being there in South Africa, like Angelo and then he was not there, and Kusal did not play in the last few games and Dimuth as well, so they are in form.

For us, fortunately, most of the top order got some runs somewhere down the line, so hopefully we click as a batting group this game.

Q. I know that you lost to South Africa 5-nil two months ago, but the conditions here would make you think that you are in with a chance?
CHANDIKA HATHURUSINGHA: Obviously, we think that we have a good chance because we are coming off two wins and a very good win against England, although we didn't play our best cricket to win the game in terms of batting. And I think we had a perfect bowling display, defending that target.

I mean, the cricket is funny game. You can lose so many games and win the one that is the most important, it is this next game. I think we have enough talent and skill-set to compete with them tomorrow.

Q. The batsmen had a bit of a -- they got themselves going in the last match a little bit. But what are you trying to tell them in order to I guess get them get back into full form? The middle-order has been a bit shaky right through. What do you as a coach have to tell them to get them to produce more consistently?
CHANDIKA HATHURUSINGHA: That is what we have discussed, even before the England game also. They all have done this before, especially someone like Mathews, a world-class player, and he showed a lot of mental resilience in that innings because -- he was under pressure, the team was under pressure for various reason and he was not coming without much runs.

So he showed a lot of character so those are the things we discussed and having partnership. He was in one or two partnerships, even not batting well as he could or we know he can bat, but still had a crucial partnership with Mathews and, of course, Mendis got involved in two good partnerships with Angelo so those are the things that we normally talk, it's very key for us to put partnership together and click as a batting group.

Q. This power hitting hasn't been something we have seen from Sri Lanka much. Has that been a focus over the last few days?
CHANDIKA HATHURUSINGHA: Yes, we have been practicing a lot of power hitting with various ways of using the nets facilities we have. The good thing that what has worked for us is that the top order, we had two good partnerships at the start, apart from the last game. We know that what they can produce and we still back them to do that so hopefully next few games they come off.
 
Karunaratne left frustrated as Sri Lanka’s World Cup hopes are left hanging by a thread

Dimuth Karunaratne was frustrated at his side’s inability to rotate the strike after their semi-final hopes were left hanging by a thread in Durham on Friday.

Sri Lanka were bowled out for 203 and were beaten by nine wickets by South Africa

Sri Lanka play the West Indies in their final group game at The Riverside

Dimuth Karunaratne was frustrated at his side’s inability to rotate the strike after their semi-final hopes were left hanging by a thread in Durham on Friday.

In a must-win ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup clash with South Africa at Chester-le-Street, Sri Lanka fell to 203 all out and Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla guided the already-eliminated Proteas to a nine-wicket win.

Kusal Perera and Avishka Fernando laid a decent platform in the first powerplay, but thereafter no batsmen kicked on as the innings ground to a halt.

Sri Lanka – who shocked England so spectacularly in Leeds last week – must now beat West Indies and India in their final two games if they are to stand any chance of making the final four.

But even then, they will need England, Pakistan and Bangladesh’s results to go their way and skipper Karunaratne admitted his side only had themselves to blame.

“It was a must win game for us, it was a pretty good wicket and we couldn't get a good total on the board," he said

“I think the disappointing thing was Avishka and Kusal batted really well, but we couldn’t rotate and there were a lot of dot balls. Those are the main things why we ended up with 200 runs.”

And Karunaratne, who himself was dismissed with the first ball of the match, admitted his side must learn from the way du Plessis and Amla went about the chase.

Sri Lanka are back in action here on Monday against the West Indies and need two wins from two to keep their semi-final hopes alive.

“Faf did a great job, he put all the fielders in the right places, made us go for big shots," added Karunaratne

“After the powerplay until the 27th over, they only put two fielders outside and put good pressure on us.

“We were going for the big shots and that’s why wickets were falling.

“The wicket was getting better and better in the later part.

“If you get a start you have to go for a big one. Faf and Hashim batted really well in a tough period then when you get set, you have to keep batting and batting.

“Once they were set they didn’t go for big shots, they kept rotating the strike. That’s what I expect from my batsmen."

Seamer Nuwan Pradeep is suffering from chicken pox but Karunaratne is still feeling confident.

He added: “We have to win our two matches, compete really good,” he says. “We have to work hard at the batting, bowling and every department and do well in those matches.”
 
28 June - Chester-le-Street - Sri Lanka Captain post-match press conference

Q. Disappointed with your team what was a must-win game for you guys, with the lack of application from batsmen, shot selection?

DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: Of course, I think it is a must-win game for us. I think if you see the wicket, I think it is pretty good wicket to bat. We couldn't get a big total on the board. I think the only disappointment is that we couldn't protect the strike, I think that is the main thing. Those are the main things, you know, we ended up getting 200 runs.

Q. (Off microphone)?

DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I don't think so. I think the thing is, once we lost a couple of wickets, I think Faf did a great job. I think he put all the fielders in the ringside and the key was to go for big shots, that is it. And that is what we expect I think of the powerplay, till the 27th over, they will put only two fielders outside, so that is the main field, and we had pressure on at that time. We were going for the big shots. That is why the wickets were falling.

Q. Do you think selecting Jeewan Mendis was the right decision?

DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think at the few previous grounds and this is a bit shorter, and we thought he will get some turn on this track and he will, you know, the lines are bigger, so he will bowl without fear, that is the main thing, we trying to give him another run, and unfortunately I think if you don't have many runs on the board, I think we can't ask him to put the pressure on the batsmen and you know take wickets and I think the wicket was getting better and better the latter part.

Q. Eight of the top nine, eight of Sri Lanka's top nine got double figures but no-one progressed beyond 30. How frustrating was that that no-one kicked on to a big score?

DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: Yeah, if you are going to get a start, you have to go for a big one. I think if you take du Plessis and Amla they batted really well, they batted really well in a tough period and then they will keep batting and batting and batting. They didn't want to get out. Once they were set, they want to go for big shots, they will keep rotating the strike. That is what I'm expecting from our players, you know keep rotating the strike and to bat 35, 40 overs and then go for the big shots. They unfortunately couldn't rotate the strike. That is the main thing, you know, and they built the pressure on our side.

Q. (Off microphone).

DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I have no idea about that. Nuwan Pradeep, I think he got chickenpox, so we need to check again if he can play in the West Indies match or not. If he couldn't play, we will get a call.
 
eevan Mendis insists the best of Sri Lanka is still to come in this tournament after their semi-final hopes were severely dented in defeat to South Africa.

Sri Lanka now must win both of their final two games against West Indies and India and hope that other results go their way to make the final four.

A semi-final spot was up for grabs after they surprised hosts England in Leeds last week, but they came back to earth with a bump in Durham in a nine-wicket loss to the Proteas.

The 36-year-old Mendis made 18 from 46 balls as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 203 and struggled to keep the run rate going after a fast start.

And Mendis knows the batting needs real work if they are to turn the tables before the end of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019.

“I don’t think England was the best of us. As a unit we got a lot of confidence from that game but as a batting unit we have a lot to come still,” he said.

“We discussed the batting for the last few matches, as a unit we have to bat the full 50 overs. “Especially when it comes to No.7, 8, 9, 10, they are batting in the 25th over and that is no good.

“As a batting group we have to bat longer so that we can get a good start and let them capitalise.

“That is what happened again today, we haven’t had anyone have a chance to get a hundred.

“We need to get a good score on the board to give us a chance.”

Mendis has struggled for runs this tournament and admits he is still trying to work out his role at No.6, often batting with the tail.

“By the time I got in today we had lost five wickets and it was an up and down wicket,” he added.

“Me and Dhananjaya (de Silva), we were thinking about taking it to the 40 or 45th over to give Thisara and Isuru a chance to free the arms.”

West Indies are up next, on the same ground at Chester-le-Street on Monday and with a young batting line-up, Mendis intends to use all his experience to keep the camp morale high.

“We don’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves, thinking about the semi-finals,” he added.

“We will think about the next match, playing that one well and then we can discuss the others.

“We try to back each other, to get confidence high.

“There are a lot of young batsmen and we want to keep their confidence levels high, and if we get a good start we have to capitalise.”
 
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They made some awful selections . Dickwella and Dananjaya should have been picked. If you invest in them for 2 years , why would your drop them after a couple of bad series ?

PP will predict the doom of Sri Lanka cricket , but I think they will be a competitive team as long as they get some stability and back the right players. If they have more instability, expect more drama and chaos on and off the pitch.
 
Nuwan Pradeep is out of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, with Kasun Rajitha to replace him

The ICC has confirmed that the Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 has approved Kasun Rajitha as a replacement player for Nuwan Pradeep in the Sri Lanka squad for the remainder of the tournament.

Fast bowler Pradeep has been infected with Chickenpox which has ruled him out of further participation in the event.

The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad.

The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 consists of Geoff Allardice (ICC, ETC chairman), Campbell Jamieson (ICC representative), Steve Elworthy (CWC representative), Alan Fordham (host representative), Harsha Bhogle and Kumar Sangakkara (both independent representatives).
 
Mahela Jayawardene: Sri Lanka need to keep final four belief

The South Africa match was a great opportunity to go out and play with freedom and put a side under pressure, they haven’t had a good tournament themselves so it was a big opportunity missed.

It’s a big ask to win their next two games but it’s still possible. But to do that they must be consistent in the batting group which they couldn’t do at Durham.

The batsmen did it against England, they did it early against Australia but beyond that it’s been a struggle to put solid runs on the board.

The tournament is all about partnerships, and making sure players have roles and responsibilities. Sri Lanka have had some good individual performances with the bat, but collectively as a unit they haven’t delivered as we hoped.

Against South Africa, it’s the manner of defeat it’s the most disappointing. They didn’t reach par with the bat and that’s what happens when you lose three wickets in the first 15 overs.

It’s too early to write them off and look beyond the tournament, there’s plenty of time to do that once it’s over. They still have to think positively – win the last two and there is still an opportunity.

Play with the right attitude now and then do the soul-searching once the games are complete.

This is a team with a lot of new players, including the captain, it’s not always easy but this squad has the chance to create a positive mindset among themselves.

It’s a case of not looking back – there’s no other direction but going forward. So with that, Sri Lanka need to play some positive cricket.

If they go out there against the West Indies and be positive, believing in what they can do, then you never know what may happen. There are match-winners in that Sri Lanka team, they just have to believe they can do it.

What’s gone before they have to put to one side, have a fresh mindset and go and put a decent score on the board whether batting first or second. Currently Sri Lanka haven’t been able to bat for 50 overs and score the required runs.

It’s frustrating, but those individuals will be the most frustrated people of anyone. They’ll be wondering how this is happening – they have the talent, they have the ability, but application is required.

They need to manage those emotions out in the middle and hopefully it can make a difference. Knowing the Sri Lankan fans and public, they’ll be backing the team all the way and they know they have the ability to be successful.

So it’s down to the players to ask themselves if they are deserving of this position. Are we better than these performances? Nobody else can help them out so they have to go out there, take responsibility for the situation and perform in the way we know they can.

That starts from the front, with Dimuth Karunaratne, the captain. But he’ll also be looking at his senior players, Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga, to help him create the positive mindset.

We’ve seen out in the middle that Malinga believes – he showed that against England – but now we need that from the last two games to finish on a high.

© ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2019. All rights reserved
 
30 June - Chester-le-Street - Sri Lanka Captain Dimuth Karunaratne pre-match press conference

Q. To be honest to yourself, I mean you were made the captain of this World Cup team and if you say that all your boys are giving you 100 percent for this one, so in fact what actually do you think has gone wrong for you?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think the batting is the main collapse, you know. If you take the -- we couldn't get a hundred. We played like six, five matches, so we couldn't get a hundred, only a couple of 50s in our team, so that is the only major thing. If you want to compete with the good sides, you definitely got to have a good batting line-up and you have to put runs on the board, so I think in this World Cup, the major part is the batting line-up.

Q. You brought in Kasun Rajitha in place of Nuwan Pradeep. But was there any thought now that the batting is struggling to bring in a batsman as a replacement?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: No, not at all because I think if some fast bowler gets injured, there is no fast bowler, so you want to take a fast bowler into the squad in case if someone get injured. But I think we have enough batsmen. They have capabilities to score runs, but I think the only thing is they were scoring but as a unit we couldn't perform really well in these matches. I think everyone has to put hands up and put heads down and put some runs on the board if you want to really win the matches.

Q. How closely are you watching the game in Edgbaston today? How disappointing is it that your fate for you team isn't in your own hands at the moment?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think we can't control the other games, you know. They were playing really well. Sometimes they were playing really well, sometimes they couldn't. I think we had a good chance. Still we have a chance, I think, but we have to win these two games and wait for the other, what will happen for the other games.

Only we can control the matches we are going to play, the two matches, so we are trying to give our best and try to win these two matches and, hopefully, if we have a chance, we definitely can be in the top four teams.
 
Karunaratne only worried about what Sri Lanka can control in semi-final fight
Sri Lanka’s World Cup fate is out of their own hands after defeat to South Africa on Friday in Durham.
Dimuth Karunaratne
Sri Lanka have won two of their seven games so far and are currently seventh in the standings
They must win against West Indies in Durham to keep their faint semi-final hopes alive
Sri Lanka’s World Cup fate is out of their own hands after defeat to South Africa on Friday in Durham.

But skipper Dimuth Karunaratne insists he and his fellow batsmen are ready to turn the tide in their favour in their last two games of this ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

Monday sees Sri Lanka face the West Indies, again at Chester-le-Street, and depending on other results they will know if their top-four hopes are still intact.

But the fact remains they must win two from two – their last game is against India – to stand any chance of staying alive in the tournament.

And Karunaratne is adamant his side are focused on the job in hand, starting with the already-eliminated West Indies.

“We can't control the other games, you know,” he said.

“They were playing really well. Sometimes they were playing really well, sometimes they couldn't. I think we had a good chance. Still we have a chance, I think, but we have to win these two games and wait to see what will happen in the other games.
“Only we can control the matches we are going to play, the two matches, so we are trying to give our best and try to win these two matches and, hopefully, if we have a chance, we definitely can be in the top four teams.”

The batting has been the chief source of concern all tournament long for Sri Lanka.

Karunaratne has made two half centuries, as has Kusal Perera while Angelo Mathews has chipped in with one of his own in their massive win over England in Leeds.

But no Sri Lankan batsman has reached three figures yet in this tournament, and the skipper is keen to put that statistic to bed.

“I think the batting is the main collapse, you know. We couldn't get a hundred. We played like six, five matches, so we couldn't get a hundred, only a couple of 50s in our team, so that is the only major thing,” he added.

“If you want to compete with the good sides, you definitely got to have a good batting line-up and you have to put runs on the board, so I think in this World Cup, the major part is the batting line-up.”
And Karunaratne has resisted the temptation to bring in an extra batsmen after Nuwan Pradeep was struck down with chickenpox.

Instead, Kasun Rajitha was given the nod by the captain.

“If some fast bowler gets injured, there is no fast bowler, so you want to take a fast bowler into the squad in case if someone get injured,” he added.

“But I think we have enough batsmen. They have capabilities to score runs, but I think the only thing is they were scoring but as a unit we couldn't perform really well in these matches.

“I think everyone has to put hands up and put heads down and put some runs on the board if you want to really win the matches.”
 
Sri Lanka is officially out of race for WC semi final spot with England winning over India. The maximum Sri Lanka can get to 10 points with 4 wins & 2 N/R. But England already has more wins (5 wins) than Sri Lanka with 10 points.
 
Sami92 said:
Sri Lanka is officially out of race for WC semi final spot with England winning over India. The maximum Sri Lanka can get to 10 points with 4 wins & 2 N/R. But England already has more wins (5 wins) than Sri Lanka with 10 points.
Click to expand...

Yep. Wins is the first tiebreaker, then NRR, then head 2 head I believe.
 
Spinner Dhananjaya de Silva is eyeing an upset against India in Sri Lanka’s final match to lift his side into fifth place in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 group table.

Sri Lanka’s topsy-turvy tournament continued in Durham with a 23-run victory over West Indies, just four days after their were beaten by nine wickets on the same ground by South Africa.

This was their third victory in the tournament and while they can no longer qualify for the semi-finals, they have already upset hosts England and de Silva believes they can claim another scalp against Virat Kohli’s side at Headingley.

Sri Lanka have won only one of their last eight ODIs against India but they did beat them by seven wickets in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 at The Oval.

And the game is a repeat of the 2011 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup final in Mumbai which India won.

The 27-year-old off-spinner admitted that his side have nothing to lose against one of the favourites to lift the trophy at Lord’s on July 14th.

He said: “We’ve done well against India in other ICC tournaments and we’ve just beaten West Indies so if we can take that confidence and momentum into the next game then we can beat India again.

“We’re trying hard to win every game and if we beat India then we can finish fifth.”

He admitted that the decision to bring Angelo Mathews on to bowl was a surprising one given that the former captain had not bowled in an ODI for 18 months.

However, Mathews had Windies century-maker Nicholas Pooran caught behind with his first ball and tilted the enthralling game back in Sri Lanka’s favour.

De Silva said: “Angelo put his hand up and he did the job.”
 
Mahela Jayawardene: Fernando provided the inspiration that Sri Lanka needed to build for the next World Cup

Sri Lanka needed some inspiration from this ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 to build from and take us forward into the next four years. Avishka Fernando just provided it.

His 104 against the West Indies was an incredible innings and he showed to the world that we have something to rally around leading into the next tournament.

It has been a tough couple of years for Sri Lanka but we have learned our lessons. It is important that we plan around a group of players who will be there for the next four years and I think Avishka has shown he has to be a big part of that.

I was very impressed from the first game that he played against England a couple of weeks ago, he came in changed the tempo right from the start in what proved to be a vital innings.

His knock here won’t come as a surprise to many people in Sri Lanka. It has been obvious from the beginning that he has a lot of talent.

He showed character. He was aggressive and played with intent, refusing to shy away from the West Indies pacey attack. It was gutsy.

He will take a lot of confidence from this and he has now proven to himself that he can go on and do it on the international stage.

I first spotted him at U19s but then all of a sudden he was chucked in against Australia and the might of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins before even playing a first-class match.

He was just 18 at the time, perhaps it was a bit early for him, but he went away for a year and has come back stronger. Admittedly, he has struggled with consistency but the selectors have always had faith.

I thought he might start the tournament but the selectors understandably went with experience. But at this tournament has progressed, it’s been clear we have needed a spark. And there is it.

Saturday marks Sri Lanka’s final game in this tournament but it certainly won’t be the last for opponents India.

They have been consistent throughout and will challenge strongly for the trophy. Their spinners, despite being beaten up a bit by England, have been excellent and I think their batting line-up is as strong as anything else out there.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are in excellent form. Sharma has three centuries and, although Kohli is yet to reach three figures, he won’ be too frustrated. He knows he is playing well, with five straight fifties to his name.

Early-tournament form only gets you so far and India will know it will all start for them again in the semi-finals should they, as expected, be there.

Everything you have done up to there must be left aside. You need to execute two big games to win but the signs are good for both India and Australia.

It’s going to be a brilliant last week of cricket.

© ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2019. All rights reserved
 
5 July - Leeds - Sri Lanka Captain Dimuth Karunaratne pre-match press conference

Q. You come to the tail end of the World Cup. What are the team's thoughts, coming in? Finishing off on a winning note? How are the thoughts on that, the team's?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: We have to win the game to end up in the fifth or sixth position, that's our plan. So we intend to do our best.

Q. Just wondering, you played England here and got good results. You've played everybody but India. What's your view of the standard of the opponents and who potentially is the best out of who you played?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: The England side is a good team. So far they are doing really good at the moment. And they're the number one team as well. I think here in Headingley we've got some lucky games here. If you take the test matches and one-days, we did really well. So we're trying to give our best shot against India. We're playing the same track that was used against West Indies and Afghanistan. So hopefully we can get some turn. So we're trying to give our best shot against India.

Q. Can you just talk us through some of the positives for your team in the World Cup?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think if you take the batting lineup -- Avishka Fernando and Kusal and the opening pair and some middle order, if you take -- we do well in the middle order the first few games, but if you take the last matches, we capitalized well and we managed to bat really well in the end of the tournament. But I think that it's too late. But if you take the positives of Avishka Fernando, he's playing really good, doing really good. He got, in three games he showed that he can do, he can produce some runs for Sri Lanka. And he's one of the future stars. And if you take the bowling lineup, they did really well, especially Malinga and Nuwan Pradeep. They're the good sign. And if you take this World Cup those are the things, highlighted things I feel want to go forward. Those are the positive points in this tournament.

Q. Do you think looking back that you know the preparation time took a lot more than you would have expected, maybe like teams start preparing a couple of years before the tournament starts? Do you think that is something that you guys will want to start fresh right here, right now, looking at the four years that comes around the corner?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: In the 2015 World Cup we also started to build the World Cup side but unfortunately the players who come in, they couldn't perform very well then. And that time we had to change lots of players. But after the World Cup, after this World Cup we're trying to have a special plan and identify the players who can produce or give a good -- if you take the bowling and the batting and the fielding, and the fitness level, we are looking for the future World Cup and we're trying to, they are a good bunch of players and trying to give our maximum challenges for them. And we are trying to make a good solid 15 players for the next World Cup.

Q. What do you think is taking so long for the transition phase? Normally international teams go through the transition phase during a period of two, three years. But it's now a good four, five years, but it's not happening the way probably it should happen for Sri Lanka cricket. As a captain what do you think is the reason for that?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: I think if you take the other countries, they played lots of cricket, like IPL and the domestic structure in India, that's really, really good.

And in Sri Lanka, we have only one domestic season. And after that, if they've performed well, the players, they have only a chance to show up there for their talent on that particular domestic season. So that's why we can identify the players from that tournament. So that's the reason. After that, when you come to the international level, so there's a huge gap. So we have to know -- we have to cross that gap and we have to play lots of cricket, give the chance to play for the players go to play IPL, some Big Bash League or County League. So we are given permission to play in this tournament and get some experience and come back. So those are the things I'm expecting from the cricket board after this World Cup, they will make a good decision and make us strong at the domestic level and produce some good players for the future.

Q. Rohit Sharma already scored four 100s in this tournament, done well against Sri Lanka in the past. Is there any way -- are there any strategies that you thought of that you can sort of contain him or (indiscernible) his wicket early?
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE: Every batsman have big points. We take a couple of videos, and Rohit, not only Rohit, Virat and all the top six batsmen, and we have a plan for everyone. But if you couldn't execute really well, we can't -- the plans aren't working. So the point is we have to execute really well against those batsmen. We know they are really dangerous. Once they get set, they're going for the big ones. So we have some plans, we're trying to restrict them from those plans. And if we can execute really well, definitely we can get him out and early.
 
Mahela Jayawardene: Sri Lanka were missing the X-factor needed to make the semi-finals

I don’t think Sri Lanka were consistent enough to threaten to be in the top four at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019.

They lacked punch in the middle order and apart from Lasith Malinga, the bowling attack didn’t look potent enough to threaten batting lineups.

They just didn’t quite have the X-factor you need to be in those semi-final spots.

Expectations were very realistic in the country leading up to the World Cup. Sri Lanka didn’t show much in the way of form but they always turn up for big tournaments and perform well.

The wins over West Indies and England showed the way – it gave them a lot of confidence to believe the brand of cricket that earned those victories is the way to go forward.

The rained off matches were a missed opportunity and the final group stage game against India could have been a decisive one. Things could have been different.

Against India, Angelo Mathews played a superb innings and deserved his hundred.

It didn’t look like Sri Lanka would get to a competitive score so credit has to go to him and Lahiru Thirimanne for putting up a big partnership.

The middle order has been an Achilles heel but Angelo timed his innings really well. He didn’t take too many risks up front and got Sri Lanka to 264, which I felt was above par in the circumstances.

Angelo couldn’t find form at the beginning of the tournament but the innings against England was a crucial one for him to get his confidence back.

He can contribute a lot more to Sri Lankan cricket and he’ll definitely be in their plans for the future.

Sri Lanka were outplayed by the Indians but the only criticism I can make is that their bowling attack looked pretty one-dimensional. The bowling unit is the biggest worry.

With Malinga coming towards the end of his career, they need to find four or five bowlers you can control a situation and be effective in any conditions.

There are experienced batsmen and youngsters like Avishka Fernando to build a solid batting unit, most of whom will still be eligible to play in the 2023 World Cup in India.

But you need wicket-taking options and strike bowlers, so they have to go back to the drawing board and find out what their plan with the ball in one-day cricket.

On the whole I felt Dimuth Karunaratne did a very, very good job as captain.

It was a tough ask for him but he settled things down and looked in control. Tactically, he did everything he could to engineer positive results.

He started the World Cup really well with the bat and that probably helped him bed into the role.

I’m sure Sri Lanka would love Dimuth to carry on in the job because he took responsibility for the World Cup campaign when it was given to him.

© ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2019. All rights reserved
 
Sri Lanka got a front-row seat to the Rohit Sharma show and captain Dimuth Karunaratne has urged his batsmen to learn from the Indian opener.

Sharma now has five centuries in this ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, the latest a 94-ball 103 in a seven-wicket victory over the Sri Lankans at Headingley.

And as Sri Lanka bow out of the tournament, Karunaratne believes there is a lot to be learned from the way Sharma converts starts into centuries with such regularity.

He said: “Every time he gets a start, he keeps scoring big runs. That's what we want. He was fearless.

“And he knows how he’s going to get a hundred and he's batting really well.

“He knows which bowlers he wants to take charge against and which bowlers he wants to respect. Those are the little things he mastered really well.

“His plan is simple, he keeps batting and batting. That's what I want for the youngsters.

“It's an ideal candidate to do watch, the men learn something from him, just keep batting and batting. He was very hungry for the runs. And that's a huge thing for the youngsters.”

Although the final result was a comfortable win for India, Sri Lanka had put them under pressure with the bat.

Angelo Mathews scored his third ODI century, all of them coming against India, as the Sri Lankans recovered from 55/4 to post a total of 264/7.

It extended Mathews’ fine record at the ground in Leeds, his one-day average here now 244, in addition to a Test century.

And Karunaratne was quick to praise his most experienced batsman, as well as Lahiru Thirimanne (54), as their 124-run partnership rescued the Sri Lankan innings.

He added: “Angelo keeps asking me if we can put a couple of games at Headingley, then he can get some runs.

“I think he’s done really well on this wicket, even in Test matches. So I think he knows this wicket really well.

“And the hundred, it came during a really tough period. When you’re 50/4 and he comes in during a tough periods. And then we got a nice push.

“Thirimanne, in a supporting role, did really well. At the end of the day he put a good score on this wicket, but unfortunately the Indians batted really well.”

It was not the perfect finale for Lasith Malinga, playing in his final World Cup match. The veteran fast bowler did get KL Rahul out but went for 82 runs from his ten overs.

And Karunaratne hopes the team can give him a better send-off when he retires from ODIs for good.

He added: “We all wanted to give him a nice farewell, but unfortunately we couldn't.

“But Mali going to play another couple of games in Sri Lanka against Bangladesh. We'll try to give a nice send-off at that time.”
 
SL had only one great game and that was against England. They had two washouts which helped them to be #6.

SL got some works to do.
 
Sri Lanka all-rounder Lahiru Thirimanne has urged experienced paceman Lasith Malinga not to hang up his bowling boots just yet.

Malinga, who is renowned for delivering the ball with a unique action, made his farewell ODI appearance on Saturday as Sri Lanka slipped to a seven-wicket defeat against India in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup at Headingley.

The 35-year-old from Galle has enjoyed a glittering international career, bagging 101 wickets in 30 Tests together with 335 wickets in 225 ODI appearances, and Thirimanne is hoping the veteran still has some fuel left in his tank.

“Lasith is a unique player and a very big loss for us,” said Thirimanne. “I hope he will continue to play T20s. He will be a very big loss to us, though, when he comes to the end of his career.”

Sri Lanka ended a disappointing World Cup campaign by sliding to a fourth defeat, although they were the team most affected by bad weather with two of their nine matches producing no results.

“We haven’t performed well, that’s the main thing,” said Thirimanne after he struck 53 in a fifth-wicket partnership of 124 with centurion Angelo Mathews as Sri Lanka compiled 264/7 after winning the toss and electing to bat first.

“Overall our batting didn’t click. In some of the matches our bowlers didn’t bowl well, so in all three parts we weren’t up to the mark. We have to improve on those three dimensions.”

India eased to their target with 39 balls to spare thanks to 111 from KL Rahul and 103 by the remarkable Rohit Sharma.

Thirimanne said: “Rohit is in great touch. Five centuries in a World Cup is quite spectacular.

“The thing is, he is not hitting big shots first up, and then you see he’s scoring at a run a ball. That’s unique. I think he will score more runs in the semis as well.

“England and India have the best chance of winning the World Cup. I hope that India might win the World Cup.”
 
They gave a decent showing. Who knows what could have happened in those 2 rained off games .
 
Sri Lanka got a front-row seat to the Rohit Sharma show and captain Dimuth Karunaratne has urged his batsmen to learn from the Indian opener.

Sharma now has five centuries in this ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, the latest a 94-ball 103 in a seven-wicket victory over the Sri Lankans at Headingley.

And as Sri Lanka bow out of the tournament, Karunaratne believes there is a lot to be learned from the way Sharma converts starts into centuries with such regularity.

He said: “Every time he gets a start, he keeps scoring big runs. That's what we want. He was fearless.

“And he knows how he’s going to get a hundred and he's batting really well.

“He knows which bowlers he wants to take charge against and which bowlers he wants to respect. Those are the little things he mastered really well.

“His plan is simple, he keeps batting and batting. That's what I want for the youngsters.

“It's an ideal candidate to do watch, the men learn something from him, just keep batting and batting. He was very hungry for the runs. And that's a huge thing for the youngsters.”

Although the final result was a comfortable win for India, Sri Lanka had put them under pressure with the bat.

Angelo Mathews scored his third ODI century, all of them coming against India, as the Sri Lankans recovered from 55/4 to post a total of 264/7.

It extended Mathews’ fine record at the ground in Leeds, his one-day average here now 244, in addition to a Test century.

And Karunaratne was quick to praise his most experienced batsman, as well as Lahiru Thirimanne (54), as their 124-run partnership rescued the Sri Lankan innings.

He added: “Angelo keeps asking me if we can put a couple of games at Headingley, then he can get some runs.

“I think he’s done really well on this wicket, even in Test matches. So I think he knows this wicket really well.

“And the hundred, it came during a really tough period. When you’re 50/4 and he comes in during a tough periods. And then we got a nice push.

“Thirimanne, in a supporting role, did really well. At the end of the day he put a good score on this wicket, but unfortunately the Indians batted really well.”

It was not the perfect finale for Lasith Malinga, playing in his final World Cup match. The veteran fast bowler did get KL Rahul out but went for 82 runs from his ten overs.

And Karunaratne hopes the team can give him a better send-off when he retires from ODIs for good.

He added: “We all wanted to give him a nice farewell, but unfortunately we couldn't.

“But Mali going to play another couple of games in Sri Lanka against Bangladesh. We'll try to give a nice send-off at that time.”
 
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