NEWS
Follow UsSri Lanka’s head coach Chris Silverwood said the 10-wicket drubbing at the hands of India in the Asia Cup final should serve as a “wake-up call” for his team prior to the World Cup. Dasun Shanaka and Co. were bundled out for just 50 runs on Sunday (September 17), which India chased down inside seven overs, with all their wickets intact.
"Sometimes a bit of a kick up the rear end is not the worst thing going into a World Cup. Maybe this is just a wake-up call, that for us to compete against teams like India, Australia, and New Zealand - those types of guys - we have to be on top of our game. Maybe there's something we can use out of this that can motivate us heading into that World Cup,” he said.
"Clearly, it was a bad day in the office. Clearly, we came up against a very high-class bowling unit. It was a shame to finish the way we did. It's one of those things we can't dwell on too much because we've got a big tournament coming up. There are lessons to learn and questions to be asked in the dressing room. We have to move forward."
Despite the humiliating defeat in the final, Sri Lanka had a pretty good campaign. They were without some of their major players but still defeated every team except India. Young players like Dunith Wellalage, Matheesha Pathirana and Sadeera Samarawickrama had a pretty good tournament.
Pathirana (11 wickets @ 24.55) emerged as the leading wicket-taker, followed by Wellalage, who claimed 10 wickets in six innings at an average of 17.90. Meanwhile, Samarawickrama got 215 runs at an average of 35.83 and a strike rate of close to 90. "We played some very good cricket to get to the final. We had to fight very hard. For me, it was an achievement." Silverwood said.
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"But if we take today out of the equation, we've seen two youngsters put their hands up, in Dunith Wellalage and Matheesha Pathirana. We've seen two of them really put up their hands on the world stage. Sadeera's played some good knocks. (Kusal) Mendis has come back into form (270 runs @ 45). But clearly, consistency is something we need to bring into the game."
Sri Lanka have been in good form of late, but this was also the third time this year they were bowled out for less than 100 (73 vs India in January and 76 vs New Zealand in March). "We bat all the way down to No. 7, so it is a concern. It's something we have to talk about. I'd encourage us to face the problem head-on. We cannot let this happen."
