A win that Sri Lanka cannot be proud of

Player of the Match Pathum Nissanka addressing post-match press conference

• Chinks in batting line-up still exists

DUBAI: Sri Lanka’s four-wicket win against associate member Hong Kong China in an Asia Cup Group B match on Monday is something that they will not relish.

Although the win has brought Sri Lanka closer to qualifying for a place in the second stage of the tournament – the Super Fours – the middle order batting was a disaster. Against a team like Hong Kong China if that can happen, Sri Lanka need to work a lot harder on their batting before they come up against much stronger opponents.

Losing four wickets for eight runs against a bowling attack of Hong Kong China’s standard is totally unwarranted and calls for serious re-thinking. Had Hong Kong China held onto some of those five catches they spilled it would have been a totally different story.

It’s easier to say that “our hearts were in our mouths” after the match and point out areas where they went wrong. But playing in a tournament of this stature there cannot be any room for error and especially against sides like Hong Kong China.

Player of the Match Pathum Nissanka who scored 68 off 44 balls was missed thrice and Kusal Perera (20) who helped Nissanka add 57 for the third wicket, twice. Hong Kong’s sloppiness on the field deprived them of a rare win against a full-member nation.

“Hong Kong China batted well in the power play and they also bowled well, their cricket has developed a lot,” said Nissanka giving credit to the opponent at the post-match press conference.

“If you take T20 cricket all the countries are playing the format well. So, instances like this can happen. We have to rectify our mistakes and move forward. If Hong Kong China had held onto the catches, they would have had an opportunity. Cricket is that kind of a game. On your day you will have luck on your side.”

Nissanka said that it was not easy to bat on the slow surface. “Hong Kong China bowled well in the power play. Against spin it was a bit difficult to bat. I tried to bat deep for about 10-15 overs to make it easy for us to get to the target.”

“If we had batted first our target was to score 160-170. It was difficult to play spin on this type of pitch. I tried as much as possible to rotate the strike and play.”

“We tried to keep Hong Kong China to a low total but unfortunately, we couldn’t. We tried to get to the target using a minimum number of overs but in the middle, we found out that it was not possible. So, we thought that we should finish the game.”

For Sri Lanka the match would have been an ideal opportunity for them to improve their net run rate, just in case it boiled down to deciding the top two spots in the group. But however, things didn’t pan out the way they thought it would.

Nissanka who began his international career as a red ball cricketer said that the two-year break he had from the game gave him an opportunity to develop his game in white ball cricket. 

“The break I got from red ball cricket helped me improve my skills at playing white ball cricket. I worked hard in those two years, that’s why I think I am consistent in white ball cricket.”

Nissanka has found consistency in white ball cricket after he had improved his strike rate from what it was and what it is today.

“I improved my range of shots and that has helped me a lot. I practiced the new shots and tried them out at practice matches and it worked fine for me, so I am continuing to play them.”

By scoring his 17th T20I fifty, Nissanka surpassed team mates Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis (16 each) for the most number of half-centuries scored in this format for Sri Lanka.

“Whenever I speak to the head coach (Sanath Jayasuriya) he tells me not to be afraid of going for my shots, regardless of the situation to play my normal game. He exudes a lot of confidence.”