Sri Lankan captain needs to step up

Head Coach Rumesh Ratnayake with Sri Lanka Women’s Captain Chamari Athapaththu during practice session at R. Premadasa Stadium

• Crucial game against New Zealand today

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

After three matches – one of which was washed out due to rain, Sri Lanka find themselves still without a win in the ongoing ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.

Today they take on New Zealand at the R. Premadasa Cricket Stadium, a team they have beaten in both formats WODI and WT20I, and should be confident of repeating that success again.

But for that to happen they need a big innings from their Captain Chamari Athapaththu who is the only player in the side who can match up to the skills and experience of other top batters in the teams playing the World Cup.

The experience that Athapaththu has no one else in the team can come close to and at 35 she is not getting any younger and this perhaps could be her final appearance on a World Cup stage.

Athapaththu has only to take the cue from the captains of Australia (Alissa Healy – 142 v India), England (Nat Sciver-Brunt – 117 v Sri Lanka) and South Africa (Laura Wolvaardt – 70 v India) whose innings brought victory to their teams.   

Today’s game is crucial to Sri Lanka’s chances if they are to finish in the top four of the standings to qualify for a place in the semi-finals. In the two matches they have played so far, Sri Lanka has lost their grip after being in dominating positions while fielding (against India) and batting (against England). A crucial aspect of their losses has been due to poor catching and the inconsistency of the bowlers to bowl a good line, which has resulted in letting the opposition off the hook.

“We cannot afford to make mistakes like we have done against India and Australia, being in strong positions and letting go of the grip. It has gone on for too long. Whether batting or bowling we have to continue the momentum till the full 50 overs. The players know that, and with the ability they have, they are prepared to do it,” said Head Coach Rumesh Ratnayake at the pre-match media conference.

On the fielding – “We need to bring our catching to flawless, zero level even if it is just one catch we missed.”

Player to watch New Zealand Women’s Captain Sophie Devine

On the batting – “Everyone must play the anchor role. We have six batters who can play that role but it has not happened. We hope that it will happen tomorrow. We have held long discussions on this aspect at team meetings and at practices.”

On the bowling – “Bowling wicket to wicket we have discussed it before the match, but when they go out something else is happening not what we have discussed. That is a problem we need to rectify.” 

Sri Lanka’s record in World Cups has been rather poor. Since beating Pakistan in 2017, they have won only one in the last 10 matches.   

“We have spoken about those stats. What has happened is in the past. We have to think of the present and win the moments. We are a much better side than what we have performed. We are hoping that it will come at any time. Other than Australia, we have beaten all the other teams. I wouldn’t take that as an excuse but I want the team to do much better than they are doing right now.”

Ratnayake is hopeful that the players can put back the mistakes they have made from the two losses and turn the result in their favour against New Zealand who have only one win and two losses to show and will be keen to add to their points tally.

His message to the supporters of the team and the spectators who have turned up in their numbers for Sri Lanka’s matches is: “Don’t give up hope, please come and support us. This is a team which has won matches in the past. It’s a team that has beaten New Zealand in both formats of the game. Every match we go focussing on a win and plan for a win. Hopefully it happens tomorrow.”

If there is one player Sri Lanka would want to see the back of as early as possible is the New Zealand Captain Sophie Devine who is the leading run-getter in the ongoing World Cup with 260 runs (avg. 86.66) with one century and two fifties in the three matches played so far. Her century (112 against Australia) unlike the other captains came in a losing cause.