India will rue this missed opportunity
This was a great victory for Sri Lanka and a much-needed one. It meant a lot to Sri Lanka to chase down a very stiff total and to do it with such ease will have been hugely satisfying.
Sri Lanka would have had a few worries coming into this game given recent form, injuries to key players, and the suspension of Upal Tharanga.
Tharanga’s suspension though created a great opportunity for Dhanushka Gunathilake. He had previously been left out of the team but remained in the squad with a point to prove. And what an inclusion he proved to be, ably joined by Kushal Mendis. The two youngsters are stars for the future.
The return of Angelo Mathews naturally strengthened hosts in the last four.
New Zealand opener Martin Guptill was in excellent touch after the match started an hour late due to rain and drove Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza for six. But Bangladesh’s change bowlers removed both Luke Ronchi and fellow opener Guptill to leave New Zealand 69 for two.
The extra pace of Taskin, recalled instead of batsman Imrul Kayes, appeared to surprise Luke Ronchi (16), a mistimed pull lobbing gently to Mustafizur Rahman at mid-on.
Guptill’s 33 then came to an end when he was lbw to Rubel Hossain. Williamson, fresh from scores of 100 and 87 against England and Australia, showed his class with several elegant fours.
Taylor too drove Taskin down the ground before sweeping spinner Shakib Al Hasan for four. Williamson went on to complete a 58-ball fifty, but he ran himself out as Bangladesh were rewarded for building pressure.
Taylor turned Shakib straight to Mossadek at short fine leg and nonstriker Williamson set off for a single that was never on. With Taylor not moving, Williamson turned but was run out as Shakib tidied up a wayward throw from Mossadek. New Zealand needed Taylor to ‘go on’ to a big score but Taskin, spotting the batsman was trying to ramp him, adjusted his length and an 82-ball innings ended with a simple catch to short fine leg. Sri Lanka. He was missed sorely against South Africa and he guided the Sri Lanka middleorder with just the innings that Sri Lanka needed. He knows how to play under pressure, he is the best batsman that Sri Lanka has, and he showed it again today..
Asela Gunaratne, one of my batsmen to watch from the start of the tournament, was sent in ahead of Dinesh Chandimal and contributed a wonderful little cameo. But with the two runouts under pressure, the innings that Kushal Perera played was outstanding.
Sri Lanka are now set up for Pakistan as a virtual quarter-final. Perera might miss his next game with his hamstring injury. Hopefully, the team won’t have a captain penalised again for a slow over-rate and, in the field, Sri Lanka can get a lot better. The bowling lacked bite and penetration. We also had a couple of questionable bowling changes, such as Gunaratne bowling three overs for seven runs and not being bowled again.
I was very impressed with Thisara Perera, coming in again after being left out, another like Gunatillake deemed not good enough and not the match-winner the team have hoped for. But he proves that sometimes when you trust players, push them and believe in them, they respond.
India will rue what they might consider a missed opportunity. They batted beautifully with Shikhar Dhawan excelling, having set the tone early on. He forms a brilliant opening partnership with Rohit Sharma that is giving India great starts. For their next match, India might be looking to maybe bring in Ravichandran Ashwin, maybe leave out Hardik Pandya, possibly Kedar Jadhav. But, whatever they decide to do, they need to do it decisively. Because for India the South Africans now await in another effective quarter-final.
For their next match, India might be looking to maybe bring in Ravichandran Ashwin, maybe leave out Hardik Pandya, possibly Kedar Jadhav. But, whatever they decide to do, they need to do it decisively.