ESPNcricinfo Review, October 2024
Sri Lanka 162 for 5 (Nissanka 54, Kusal Mendis 26, Shepherd 2-23) beat West Indies 89 (Powell 20, Wellalage 3-9, Asalanka 2-6, Theekshana 2-7) by 73 runs
Dunith Wellalage is congratulated by his team-mates for dismissing Roston Chase • Associated Press
Sri Lanka’s spinners ripped through the West Indies batters on a turning Dambulla surface to level the series at one apiece, as they won the second ODI by 73 runs.
Debutant Dunith Wellalage – belatedly making his T20I bow – was the pick of the bowlers, ending with figures of 3 for 9, while Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga and Charith Asalanka grabbed two each. Matheesha Pathirana was the sole seamer to pick up a wicket in the innings.W
Sri Lanka spinners flex their skills
Hasaranga, Sri Lanka’s premier spinner, bowled his first delivery of the game in the 11th over of the chase. And the fact that he picked up a wicket with that delivery was perhaps the least remarkable aspect about it.
What was more astounding was that he was the sixth bowler used by Sri Lanka, and West Indies had still managed to collapse to 39 for 6. But who needs Hasaranga when you have the world-renowned offspin stylings of, um, Charith Asalanka. Yes, with two left-hand batters at the crease, the Sri Lanka captain opted to introduce himself and a right-arm variant of Kamindu Mendis ahead of Hasaranga.
And it worked too. Asalanka’s two overs brought two wickets for just six runs – and those weren’t even the best figures at that stage of the game. No, that honour belonged to Wellalage – though he is by no means new to the international stage – who had grabbed three for himself.
In the lead-up to the game, Asalanka had stated how he had expected more for the spinners in the first T20I, and his wish was granted and then some in the second. Gudakesh Motie turning the ball square in the first innings would have set off West Indies’ alarm bells, but not even that could have prepared them for a 100kph sharp-turning offbreak from Theekshana.
WI need to go back to drawing board
The first T20I had seen the West Indies batters execute their plans to perfection and put Sri Lanka’s bowlers to the sword. Stepping out, moving around in the crease, using the depth, everything came off, with the last over-finish in reality nowhere close as it looked.
Sri Lanka, though, took their learnings and came back stronger – mainly in that they were prepared for what this surface was set to offer, replacing pace-bowling allrounder Chamindu Wickramasinghe with Wellalage.
West Indies, however, seemed to have missed the memo, and had only two spinners in their line-up. And those two – Motie and Roston Chase – did their part, going for just 37 off their collective eight overs. It will not be a surprise if Fabian Allen gets a go in the final game.
West Indies’ batters then seemed at a loss on how to deal with Sri Lanka’s array of spin threats, expertly utilising the conditions along with clever variations in pace, line and length. West Indies will need to come up with plans soon if they are to pose a threat in Thursday’s decider.
Nissanka shines in hindsight
On the face of it, Nissanka’s innings seemed to be more detrimental than anything else – and by the standards of modern T20 cricket, it was not too difficult to understand why. This was an innings that saw 42 runs come in boundaries (9 fours and a six) but also included 27 dot balls.
In fact, it was a microcosm of Sri Lanka’s innings as a whole; they played out 58 dots. It meant that in five of the first ten overs less than five runs were scored, and roughly half of their powerplay total of 52 was plundered in one Shamar Joseph over, where a combination of luck and belligerence saw Nissanka plunder 25 runs.
But if that over was meant to signal the start of Sri Lanka’s onslaught, Nissanka and Co seemed to have other ideas. That over ensured that the first three overs, in which Sri Lanka scrounged together eight runs, were quickly in the rearview; by the end of the powerplay Sri Lanka’s run rate was at a healthy 8.66 – but that was the highest it would reach at any point across their innings.
The rest of Nissanka’s time at the crease was spent punctuating periods of dot deliveries and the odd single with an odd boundary. But the time he spent at the crease ensured he was able to do this consistently – and with it keep Sri Lanka’s scoring rate ticking above seven an over.
Anchors are largely considered obsolete in T20s, but on a wicket such as this Nissanka – who was named Player of the Match – proved to be invaluable (even if it did not seem so at the time), as he allowed the likes of Perera to take early risks. And then with wickets in hand for the death overs, the middle and lower order hit out freely. As a result, Sri Lanka struck 85 runs in the last ten overs – just four short of West Indies’ final total.
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APPRAISAL from Brian Thomas in FACEBOOK, October 2024
Sri Lanka thump West indies with the aid of quality spin by 73 runs to square the series with one more game scheduled for tomorrow which will decide the series winner. The introduction of Dunith Wellalage was a sterling move as the South Paw bagged 3 wickets for 9 runs , whilst the West indies even struggled against the off spin of Charith Asalanka. Wanindu Hasaranga leaked 32 runs of the 89 all out by the visitors chasing a target of 163. The Visitors with big hitters were set a target that was achievable. They have exposed their weakness against quality spin , hence , unless otherwise they address the issue, Sri Lanka will spin a Web around them in the decider. Credit must be given to coach Sanath Jayasuriya in playing the extra spinner at the expense of a seamer which was the turning point. Congratulations Sri Lanka, and to West indies they need to focus on their foot work from their batting prowess to be competitive.
Please write an open letter to the parlimentary candidates to ask them 2 requests on behalf of the people.Ask who can be counted on to table the followjng motions/legislation
1. Repeal the Jathika bauthika salasma or Special gazzette 2019 2127/15 of June 19. (The implementation goal is by 2048. When this and previous generations are gone and the future generations are left to clean up the mess.Our children will ask us, where we were when this legislation was approved?what did you do to stop it? They might condemn us. The same way we judge and condemn the Elite radala class of 1815 for signing away the country’s sovereignty. )
2.change the wording of the women’s empowerment act to inchde only women and exclde so called Trans.Or repeal it. Ask all candidates especially women ,whether there are more than 2 sexes,do they know what a women is?.This is because Harini and the women’s caucas of the parliment betrayed the women of Sri Lanka introducing this bill on behest of the UNFPA.They train the census department officials to include these crazy men so called Trans as women.The BASL has google forms for applicants ,to choose gender as male female or other.Everyone is either male or female.(that includes all those with genetic hirmonal diseases).This is Biological and material reality.This cannot be different from one’s mental state. How dare Colombo Peradeniya and Karapitiya hospitals issue gender recognition certicates to say that a person is the opposite sex.How dare the department of registration of Persons issue nic ‘s for these confused people based on this certificate.How can the ministry of health issue a circular to issue gender recognition certificates in 2016.Is this not a betrayal of the highest degree? I wrote to the dept of registration of persons asking how many people have been issued new nic s based on the new sex, no answer.These people then become English teachers and go to rural towns to destroy the children there.