Thursday Dec 12, 2024
Thursday Dec 12, 2024
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It is crunch time for Sri Lanka who have so far made excellent progress in the ongoing ICC Under-19 World Cup in the West Indies where they come up against Afghanistan in a quarter-final match at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua today, where a loss could mean the end to their World Cup winning campaign.
Sri Lanka came through the group stages unbeaten with wins over Scotland, Australia and host West Indies, while Afghanistan beat Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe and lost narrowly to Pakistan by 24 runs.
The current team led by all-rounder Dunith Wellalage has all the ingredients to go and lift the cup for the first time, but it is not going to be an easy ride to the pinnacle. They have in Afghanistan one of the most unpredictable sides in the tournament. The two sides last met in 2018 in the Under-19 Asia Cup semi-finals when Sri Lanka won by 31 runs. Head-to-head in the last five outings since 2014 Sri Lanka lead Afghanistan 3-2.
“That is one of the areas we are looking at because we have very little information about Afghanistan,” said Sri Lanka U19 head coach Avishka Gunawardene in a pre-match virtual press conference.
“Noor Ahmed, we know about him but we have very little of the rest of the team. Talking about Afghanistan, they are a very unpredictable side even against Pakistan they came pretty close. We are not taking anything lightly, we can’t afford to do that since it’s a knockout stage and it could be anyone’s game. A couple of mistakes can cost the whole tournament for you.”
Noor Ahmed, the left-arm wrist spinner, played for Galle Gladiators in the second Lanka Premier League.
Gunawardene said that all the combinations they have come up with had worked well for them. “We make changes according to the conditions and the opposition. We will decide on the combination after seeing the wicket, I don’t think we need to make any big changes. I expect one of the top four batters to go and bat for 40-45 overs.”
“The only matches we played at one venue was against Australia and the West Indies. In most West Indies grounds there is a cross wind and we have to adjust to them which is very important. So far we have done it well, whatever wicket we play on we have to play to our strengths. “The strength is that everyone in the team contributes to the team’s success. Other teams I have noticed depend on one or two batsmen or one or two bowlers and if they fail the team loses. This team doesn’t depend on one individual, there is contribution from everyone. That is the strength that I see in this team,” said Gunawardene.
Wellalage has been outstanding for Sri Lanka so far leading from the front and is the leading wicket-taker in the World Cup with 13 wickets (avg. 7.23) from three matches.
“We had a good run so far and hope to continue the same in the knockout. The input given to us by Mahela (Jayawardene) with his experience has been very helpful. When it comes to reading wickets and team combinations and stuff like that Mahela’s inputs have been valuable. The team is ready to go and hopefully we can put up a good performance,” Gunawardene said. (ST)
