Members of the Sri Lanka team at a training session at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi on Friday, on the eve of their World T20 Super 10 match against England. (Photo: Biplab Banerjee)
Members of the Sri Lanka team at a training session at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi on Friday, on the eve of their World T20 Super 10 match against England. (Photo: Biplab Banerjee)
Two teams with very differing fortunes in the tournament face off with plenty to play for at the Kotla on Saturday. Defending champions Sri Lanka are all but out of the running while England will want to secure their hopes of a semi-final berth with a third win in the Super 10 stage of the ICC World Twenty20 here.
Having survived a scare at Afghanistan’s hands at this venue two days ago, England go into this game with a feel of the Kotla’s capricious ways under the belt. They did not have a good game, needing Moeen Ali and the tail to save embarrassment with the bat before easing to a 15-run win, and a stronger hand upfront will be top of the mind for skipper Eoin Morgan.
Sri Lanka have been in the doldrums almost from the word go and are need help from other results in the unlikely event of a win here on the morrow.
If it comes down to mathematics, it is clear that the team concerned have not been able to deliver when needed, not a happy thought for Angelo Mathews and his men.
Still, the way England almost fell apart against Afghanistan’s spinners gives the Lankans cause for hope. This tournament has seen spin emerge as a key component of the attack with almost every team going to their slow men in times of crisis.
And while this is to be expected given the nature of pitches in India, it is still a surprise how the likes of Imran Tahir (South Africa), Samuel Badree and Suleiman Benn (West Indies), Moeen and Adil Rasheed (England), Adam Zampa (Australia) and New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi have all come to the party,
To that list, ad the name of Rangana Herath, probably the wiliest of the slow boys on show. With leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay for company, and a sluggish track to play on, Mathews will feel he has a chance to pull the rug from under England’s feet.
While they looked at ease against pace, England were asked tough questions by Afghanistsn’s spinners Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Samaiuahhal Shenwari, and Herath and Vandersay might have a few posers of their own.
To be fair, Morgan has Moeen and Rasheed to bank on as well, and against an inconsistent Lankan side, they may well hold the key. The islanders — apart from Tillakaratne Dilshan’s early heroics — have had almost nothing to show with the bat even though they have a fair sprinkling of experience in the ranks.
Clearly, the departure of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara continues to haunt the champions, and the likes of Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimane have not been able to step up.
Unless that changes, the Lankans look like they are headed home.
For his part, Morgan will be hoping the Wednesday display was an aberration from his batsmen as the race for the semi-finals is still open in Group 1.
