Despite four wins on the trot, Sri Lanka ’A’ not taking Ireland Wolves slightly

Rival captains Gavin Hoey (Ireland Wolves) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (Sri Lanka ‘A’) with the trophy that will be awarded to winners of today’s final

• Explore Afghanistan Tri-Nation Series final today in Abu Dhabi

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

With four wins out of four Sri Lanka ‘A’ start as clear favourites to win the final of the Explore Afghanistan Tri-Nation Series against Ireland Wolves who have got there with just a solitary win against Afghanistan ‘A’, a result that denied the host’s a place in the final.

Of the three participating teams, Ireland Wolves were the side that was rated to be the weakest as compared to Sri Lanka ‘A’ and Afghanistan ‘A’ who were much comfortable playing on familiar terrain and with the extremely hot conditions the players have to put up with.

However, Ireland Wolves pulled off a shock win against Afghanistan ‘A’ in their return league match and with a better net run rate edged out the host country and qualified to play in the final.

“It doesn’t mean that we are going to take them lightly just because they are Ireland. There are a few players who can take the game away from you. Definitely we are taking the game seriously,” said Sri Lanka ‘A’ head coach Avishka Gunawardene looking ahead to the final at Abu Dhabi today.

“Ireland were good enough to beat Afghanistan who had about 6-7 national players. They have a mixture of players – a good leg-spinner who is their captain who has been performing and a couple of their batsmen have been good. They’ve been playing aggressive cricket and they are a decent side.”

Sri Lanka ‘A’ have beaten Ireland Wolves twice in the league stage and will take those wins into their confidence going into the final.

“Obviously we will take our confidence into the final having won four games, but it doesn’t mean we are going to be overconfident and we are going to take Ireland lightly. We are more or less concentrating on what we can control. We are talking about our strengths mainly and we are going to stick to them,” said Gunawardene.

With a new wicket being prepared for today’s final, Gunawardene was wary how it would play. In the opening match on a spongy surface with grass Sri Lanka ‘A’s top order struggled against Ireland Wolves who bowled them out for 264 inside 50 overs. But Sri Lanka ‘A’ bowlers were good enough to defend the total and win the match by 45 runs. 

“It will be a wicket that we have not played at all, so we have to go in the morning and have a look at it to see how much grass they have left and take it from there. Only in the first game we had a wicket with spongy bounce, after that the wickets were different, they were flatter.”

Five of the six league matches have been won by the side batting second, but Gunawardene is of the view that has been the trend whether you bat first or second.

“It’s all in the first 6-7 overs with the hardness of the ball the wicket tends to help a little bit for the seamers. There is something for the fast bowlers. Being a new wicket tomorrow there will be more help for the seamers than in the other games.”

Gunawardene is happy with the way the team has been performing so far and expects them to finish the job by winning today’s final.

“It’s nice to see consistency which is very important moving forward for the team as well as the individuals. The good thing is that the bowling has been improving with every game, batting also in patches. Although we’ve been winning consistently we need to still finish off. We have been talking to the boys that if they get a start to finish it. I like to see these 70s and 80s being converted into 100s. Playing in the ‘A’ team that’s how you put pressure on the national side. I like to see that happening more often. Having said that, different games have different players, which is a good sign. It is not only one or two players who have been performing. Even in the last game with five changes we managed to beat Afghanistan ‘A’ which is a good side.”

On winning the final?

“That’s the plan but in cricket anything can happen. The guys are in good form and in good spirits. If all goes well we should be able to win it. On your day one spell or an innings can take the game from you. What we are doing is taking every game at a time and trying to improve as we go on. I think we have done that to a certain extent, especially bowling. We have been improving. I like to see that in the batting as well, the guys who get a start to go on and get a big one. That’s the talk that we’ve been having in the last couple of games.”